Liability if a hired bicycle is stolen

Question

Question: A man took a bicycle on hire from my shop. His statement is: “I left the bicycle at the gate of the factory, but when I came back the bicycle was not there; someone had taken it away.” Is it now permissible for the shopkeeper to take the price of this bicycle or not?

Answer

That bicycle was a trust (amana), and safeguarding it was obligatory. If the place where the bicycle was left is not a secure place, and there was a risk of someone taking it from there, and he nevertheless left it there without making arrangements for its safekeeping, and someone took it away, then he was negligent in safeguarding it, on account of which the shopkeeper has…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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