814 – ʿIyāḍ ibn Ḥimār — may Allah be pleased with him — reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever finds a stray item must call two upright witnesses, safeguard its container and its tying cord, and thereafter neither conceal it nor keep it out of sight. If its owner arrives, he has the stronger claim to it; otherwise it is the property of Allah and He gives it to whom He wills.” Reported by Aḥmad and by the Four except al-Tirmidhī, and declared authentic by Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn al-Jārūd, and Ibn Ḥibbān (1).

Hadith grading:
This ḥadith is ṣaḥīḥ (sound). It was recorded by Imām Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah, and authenticated by Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn al-Jārūd, and Ibn Ḥibbān. Al-Talkhīṣ states that it has multiple chains, and Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī said: its transmitters are those of the two Ṣaḥīḥs.

Points derived from the ḥadith:
1 – It is permissible to take possession of a lost item provided the two previously mentioned conditions are met: trustworthiness in safeguarding it and the ability to announce it.
2 – It is legislated to summon witnesses when the item is found. Some scholars — among them the Ḥanafīs — deem this obligatory, while the majority, including the other three Imams, hold it to be recommended.
3 – The wisdom behind calling witnesses is to preserve the item so that it is not lost among the finder’s own property, denied by his heirs, or forgotten along with its identifying marks, causing him to fail to return it as he found it.