Chapter on Deposits for Safekeeping

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man gave a broker some cloth to have stamped and sell. Unable to have it stamped, the broker deposited it with a trustworthy tailor with whom they customarily left goods for safekeeping. The owner of the cloth then came with another broker, and they collected it from the tailor while the broker who had deposited it was absent. The owner claimed that one piece of his cloth had gone missing while in their hands, but the broker denied this. Is the broker who had been entrusted with the goods liable for anything or not?

He replied:

Praise be to Allah. If they claim not to have received the goods entrusted for safekeeping, and the broker denies their claim, his word is accepted upon his oath, unless evidence admissible under Islamic law establishes the truth of their claim.

As for anything that has gone missing, if the broker was negligent by doing something for which he had neither express nor customary authorization, he is liable. But if it is their customary practice to leave goods with this trustworthy person, and the owners of the cloth know of this and approve of it, then the brokers bear no liability. Allah knows best.