it is permissible to pick it up. Another narration is reported from Ahmad that it is not for anyone other than the Imam to pick it up. Al-Layth ibn Sa'd said: I do not like for him to go near it, unless he secures it (5) for its owner, due to the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "None shelters the lost animal except one who is misguided (6)." And because it is an animal, it resembles a camel. Our position is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when he was asked about a sheep: "Take it, for it is either for you, your brother, or the wolf." Agreed upon (7). And because it is feared that it might perish or get lost, so it resembles the lost property of non-animals. Our hadith is more specific than theirs, so we apply it specifically to it. Analogy to the camel is not valid, for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) provided the reason for prohibiting picking it up: that it has its feet and its water-skin with it (i.e., it is self-sufficient), and this is non-existent in the case of sheep. Furthermore, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) differentiated between them in one report, so it is not permissible to combine what the Lawgiver has separated, nor to draw an analogy of that which He commanded to be picked up to that which He prohibited. Once this is established, there is no difference between finding it in a city or in a desolate place. Malik, Abu Ubayd, and Ibn al-Mundhir said regarding a sheep found in the desert: Slaughter it and eat it. And in the city: Take custody of it until its owner finds it; because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "It is for you, or your brother, or the wolf." And the wolf is not found in the city. Our position is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Take it," and he did not distinguish, nor did he seek further detail. If the situation had been different, he would have asked and sought detail. And because it is lost property, so the city and the desert are the same regarding it, like all other lost property. [As for their saying that the wolf is only found in the desert, we say: its being for the wolf in the desert does not prevent] (11) it from being for someone else in the city. Once this is established, then whenever he has announced it for a full year,