Book of the Foundling (Al-Laqit)

It is the abandoned child. Al-laqit is in the meaning of al-malqut (found), a fa'il form in the sense of maf'ul (passive participle), similar to their saying: qatil (slain), jarih (wounded), and tarih (cast away). Finding and taking care of one is a collective obligation (wajib 'ala al-kifaya) based on the words of Allah Almighty: "And cooperate in righteousness and piety" (Al-Ma'idah: 2), and because it involves preserving a human life, thus it is an obligation, similar to feeding one who is in a state of starvation or saving one from drowning. It is a collective obligation; if one person performs it, it ceases to be required of the rest. However, if the community abandons it, all of them commit a sin, provided they are aware of it and neglect it despite the possibility of taking charge of it. It is narrated from Sunayn Abu Jamilah that he said: I found a wrapped [infant] and brought him to Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. My 'arif (official) said: O Commander of the Faithful, he is a righteous man. Umar said: Is he as you say? He replied: Yes. He said: Go, he is free, you have his guardianship (wala'), and we are responsible for his maintenance. Narrated by Sa'id from Sufyan from Al-Zuhri, who heard Sunayn Abu Jamilah say this, and he added: And we are responsible for his nursing.

950- Issue: He said: (The foundling is free)

The entirety of this matter is that the foundling is free, according to the generality of the scholars, with the exception of Al-Nakha'i. Ibn al-Mundhir said: The generality of the scholars have reached a consensus that the foundling is free. This opinion is narrated from Umar and Ali, may Allah be pleased with them. This is also the position of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, Al-Sha'bi, Al-Hakam, Hammad, Malik,