Question: If I see an item on the floor in a shopping mall, do I have to pick it up?
Answer: Under general circumstance, you are not obliged to pick up the item. However, if it is a valuable item and you fear that if you do not pick it up, someone else will pick it up and not return it to it’s owner, then it becomes necessary for you to pick it up.
Once you’ve picked up the item, you are now responsible to search for it’s owner. The item will now be an Amanah (trust) in your care. You have to announce the lost item in public places for a period of time i.e. as long as your overpowering thoughts are the owner will search for that item.
After searching extensively for the owner and advertising it properly for the mentioned period of time, and nobody comes to collect it, then you will give the item away in charity to the poor. If you are yourself a poor person you can keep it for yourself.
N.B. If the shopping mall has a system of returning lost items to its owners’ you can hand it to the management of the mall who will then become responsible for it.
هي رفع ضائِع للحفظ على غير لا للتمليك ، ندب رفعها لصاحبها ، ووجب عند خوف ضياعها [ فتاوى الشىامي ج٤ ص٢٧٦]
And Allah Knows Best
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