Section: Ahmad said, in the narration of al-'Abbas ibn Musa, regarding a boy of his who was ten years old, that he found a lost item and then grew up: 'If he finds its owner, he shall return it to him; otherwise, he shall give it away in charity.' The term for announcement has already passed in the preceding years, and he did not order him to restart the term of announcement. He said: 'I had heard him before or after this say, regarding the expiration of the term of announcement when he does not find its owner: Does one give away in charity the wealth of another?' This issue has already been discussed similarly in the case where the finder does not announce the lost item during its year, for he does not own it even if he announces it after that, because announcing it thereafter is of no apparent benefit, since its owner has despaired of it and ceased seeking it. This issue indicates that if one abandons announcement due to an excuse, it is as if one had abandoned it without an excuse, because a child is among those with an excuse, and we have already mentioned two views regarding this previously. Ahmad said, regarding a boy who had not reached puberty who came upon ten dinars and went with them to his house, and they were lost; when he reached puberty, he wanted to return them but did not know their owner: 'He shall give them in charity, and if he does not find ten, and it would cause him hardship, he shall give in charity a little at a time.' The Qadi said: 'The meaning of this is that they perished due to the boy's negligence, which is that he did not inform his guardian so that he could undertake its announcement.'

Section: If a slave finds a lost item, he has the right to take it without his master's permission, and his taking it is valid. Abu Hanifa said this, and it is one of the two opinions of al-Shafi'i. In the other, he said: 'His taking it is not valid,' because the lost item in the first year is a trust and a guardianship, and in the second, it is ownership, and the slave is not of the people of guardianship nor ownership. Our position is the generality of the report, and because finding is a cause through which a child may own and it is valid from him, so it is valid from a slave, like gathering firewood and hunting. Furthermore, one who is permitted to accept a deposit, it is valid for him to find [lost property], like a free person.