the city; because he is moving him from a land of misery and hardship to comfort, ease, and religion. If he stays with him in a settlement that he resides in, he may do so. If he moves him around to various places, it is possible that he remains in his custody, because the apparent state is that he is the child of Bedouins, and leaving him in the hands of his finder is more hopeful for discovering his lineage. It is also possible that he should be taken from him and given to a villager, because that is more comfortable for him and easier for him. Any place where we have said he is removed from his finder, [that only applies if there is someone to whom he can be given, who is more entitled to him. If no one is found to take care of him, he is left in the hands of his finder], because leaving him in [his hands, despite his shortcomings, is better] than leaving him to perish. If no one is found except someone like his finder, then his finder is more entitled to him, since there is no benefit in taking him from his hand and giving him to his equal.

Section: A slave may not pick up an abandoned child if there is someone else to do so, because his benefits belong to his master, so he should not dissipate them on something other than his master's benefit without permission. Also, because only guardianship is established over the foundling, and a slave has no guardianship. If he does pick him up, he is not left in his custody unless his master permits him. If the master permits him, he is left in his custody, because he has sought his assistance in that matter, so it becomes as if he had picked him up with his own hand and handed him over to him. Ibn 'Aqil said: If the master permits him, he does not have the right to retract it thereafter, and it becomes as if he had picked him up himself. The ruling on a slave woman is the same as the ruling on a mukatab (contracted slave). As for if he finds no one else to pick him up, it becomes mandatory for him to pick him up, because this is saving him from perishing, so it is like saving him from drowning. The mudabbar (slave promised freedom after master's death), the umm al-walad (slave who bore her master's child), and the one whose emancipation is conditional are like the absolute slave (qinn), as is the mukatab, because he does not have the right to give away his wealth or his benefits as a donation unless his master permits him to do so.

Section: A disbeliever may not pick up a Muslim child, because a disbeliever has no guardianship over a Muslim, and because...