Hadith record

21. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from (his father) from Ali ibn Muhammad al-Qasaniy from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from Sulayman ibn Dawud from a man who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a Muslim man with whom a thieving man leaves a certain amount of dirham and he is a Muslim also; if he must return it to him. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, he must not return it. If he can find the owner he must give it to him; otherwise, he must deal with it as what is found as a lost item and announce about it in public for one year. If the owner is found it is fine; otherwise, it is given as charity. If the owner comes thereafter he is given the choice to leave it for charity and reward or claim the loss. If he chooses charity he receives the reward; if he chooses compensation for the loss, the reward goes to one who pays compensation.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.