943 - Issue: He said: "Or its equivalent, if it has been consumed."

The summary of this is that the lost item (luqatah) is a trust in the hand of the finder during the year [of announcement]. If it is destroyed without his negligence, or if it diminishes, there is no liability upon him, just like a deposit. Whenever its owner comes and finds it, he takes it along with its connected and separated growth, because it is the increase of his property. If the finder destroys it, or it is destroyed through his negligence, he is liable for its equivalent if it is a fungible item, or its value if it has no equivalent. I am aware of no disagreement regarding this. If it is destroyed after the year has passed, its equivalent or its value is established as a debt upon him in any case, because it has entered into his ownership and was destroyed from his wealth, and it is the same whether he was negligent in its preservation or not. If he finds the actual item in a diminished state, and its diminution occurred after the year, he takes the item along with the compensation for its diminution, because it is entirely guaranteed if it is destroyed, so it is the same if it is diminished. This is the opinion of most jurists who ruled that it becomes his property upon the completion of the year of announcement. As for those who said: "He does not own it until he takes possession of it," they do not hold him liable for it until he takes possession of it, and its status before he takes possession of it is the same as its status before the year of announcement has passed. Those who said: "A lost item is never owned in any circumstance," do not hold him liable for it. This was the opinion of al-Hasan, al-Nakha'i, Abu Mijlaz, al-Harith al-'Uqli, Malik, and Abu Yusuf; they said: "He is not liable even if it is lost after the year." We have already mentioned in what preceded the evidence for its entry into his ownership. Dawud said: "If he takes possession of the item and destroys it, he is not liable for it." Ibn Abi Musa narrated from Ahmad that he alluded to an opinion similar to this, based on the hadith of 'Iyad ibn Himar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said: "If its owner comes, otherwise it is the property of Allah, He gives it to whom He wills." Thus, he deemed it permissible. And his statement in the hadith of Ubayy ibn Ka'b: "If one who knows it comes, otherwise it is like the path of your wealth." And in the hadith of Zayd: "If its owner comes, otherwise it is up to you regarding it." And it was narrated: "It is yours." And he did not command him to return its substitute.