Question 577: If a person finds an item in their home, can they take it and own it?
Answer
✅Answer: Please pay attention to the following narration:
1 عَنْ عِدَّةٍ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ وَ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ جَمِيعاً عَنِ ابْنِ مَحْبُوبٍ عَنْ جَمِيلِ بْنِ صَالِحٍ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ رَجُلٌ وَجَدَ فِي مَنْزِلِهِ [بیته] دِينَاراً قَالَ يَدْخُلُ مَنْزِلَهُ غَيْرُهُ قُلْتُ نَعَمْ كَثِيرٌ قَالَ هَذَا لُقَطَةٌ قُلْتُ فَرَجُلٌ وَجَدَ فِي صُنْدُوقِهِ دِينَاراً قَالَ يُدْخِلُ أَحَدٌ يَدَهُ فِي صُنْدُوقِهِ غَيْرُهُ أَوْ يَضَعُ غَیْرِهِ فِيهِ شَيْئاً قُلْتُ لَا قَالَ فَهُوَ لَهُ.
📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 5, p. 137
Jamil ibn Salih said: 'A person finds a dinar (gold coin) in his house, (what should he do)?' The Imam said: 'Does anyone other than him enter his house?' He said: 'Yes, many people!' The Imam said: 'This is a found item (luqatah)!'
I said: 'A man finds a dinar in his own box!' The Imam said: 'Does anyone other than him put their hand in that box, or does anyone other than him put anything in it?' I said: 'No.' He said: 'It is his property!'
✅From the above narration, it is clear that if we find an item in our home and its owner is not known and others also frequent our home, which is usually the case, the item we have found has the rulings of a lost item and a luqatah (i.e., something that has fallen on the ground and its owner is not known) and must be dealt with accordingly.
اللَّهُمَّ فَصَلِّ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَجِّلْ لِوَلِیِّکَ الْفَرَجَ وَ الْعَافِیَةَ وَ النَّصْرَ