And the second wording reads: “Its lost property is not to be taken up except by one who will proclaim it.” The first meaning, then, is that it may be removed only by someone who is going to announce it, while the second meaning is that no one may pick it up unless he does so in order to inform the people.

Mālik said: These two categories of lost property are to be announced perpetually.

As for the person who may collect it, he is any free, adult Muslim, for this is a form of guardianship. Within the Shāfiʿī school there is a disagreement about whether a non-Muslim may do so. Abū Ḥāmid stated that the sound view is that it is permissible in Muslim territory.

He added: With regard to a slave or an openly sinful person, there are two opinions. The argument for prohibition is their lack of legal capacity for guardianship, while the argument for permissibility is the general wording of the ḥadīths concerning lost property.

Lost property, in general, is any wealth belonging to a Muslim that is liable to be lost, whether in inhabited land or in the wilderness. Inanimate objects and animals fall under the same ruling, camels being the sole exception by unanimous agreement.

The basic text on the subject is the ḥadīth of Yazīd ibn Khālid al-Juhanī, whose authenticity is agreed upon. He said:

A man came to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—and asked him about lost property. He said, “Take note of its container and its tie, then announce it for one year. If its owner comes, hand it over; otherwise, it is yours to dispose of.”
The man asked, “Messenger of Allah, what about lost sheep?” He replied, “They are yours, or your brother’s, or the wolf’s.”
He asked, “And lost camels?” He replied, “What concern is that of yours? They have their water-skin and their feet; they reach water and graze on the trees until their owner finds them.”

This ḥadīth sets out what may and may not be picked up, the ruling governing what is picked up during the first year and thereafter, and the conditions under which a claimant obtains possession.

Thus, the jurists agree that camels are not to be taken up, and that sheep may be. They differed over cattle: the explicit statement of al-Shāfiʿī is that they are like camels, while Mālik holds that they are like sheep, though another view from him differs.

Second Section: Legal rulings

As for the obligation of public notice, the scholars agree that any item of value must be announced for one full year—unless it is sheep. They then differed about what is to be done after the year has elapsed. The jurists of the major centres—Mālik, al-Thawrī, al-Awzāʿī, Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, Abū ʿUbayd, and Abū Thawr—are all agreed that, once the year is over, the finder may consume it if he is poor, or give it in charity if he is wealthy. Should the owner later appear, he may either ratify the charity and receive its reward, or demand compensation.

They disagreed, however, about the wealthy finder: may he personally benefit from it or spend it after the year? Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī said that he may. Abū Ḥanīfah said he may neither consume it nor give it in charity; a similar view is related from ʿAlī, Ibn ʿAbbās, and a number of the Successors.

Al-Awzāʿī said: If the property is substantial, it should be placed in the public treasury (Bayt al-Māl); a similar opinion is reported