unlike goods, whose owner says to the rescuer: “You had permission from the moment I left it, but the right to it remains mine. If you do not give me my due, I do not authorize you to salvage it.”

As for pomegranates whose owner is unknown, they are treated as lost property. If there is hope of finding the owner of lost property, its discovery must be announced for a year. If there is no hope of finding its owner, there are two views concerning announcing it. According to either view, however, they may eat the pomegranates or sell them and retain the proceeds, then announce their discovery afterward. Allah knows best.

He was asked—may Allah sanctify his soul—about someone who found an infant with some money and cared for him until he was two months old. Another man then came so that his wife could breastfeed him for Allah’s sake. When the child grew older, the woman claimed that he was her son and that she had raised him in his father’s care. Is her statement to be accepted? Must she reimburse the second man for what he spent on the child? And must the first man hand over what he found with his son?

He answered:

If the child’s parentage is unknown and she claims that he is her son, her statement is accepted. The money found with him is to be used for his maintenance during his stay with the person who found him. Allah knows best.