Liability for a Trust Due to Negligence in Safekeeping

Question

In Dhu al-Hijja my paternal aunt’s son sent me, the humble one, a sum of 70 rupees for three shares, and on behalf of a widow in the neighbourhood 25 rupees for one share. When the postman brought the money order, he gave three ten-rupee notes and asked for five back. In my pocket, along with the first trust (70 rupees), was a sum of 60 rupees that Mubahis, may Allah keep him safe, had sent from Hardoi on behalf of my daughter-in-law; I handed those rupees back.

Answer

At a bus stand, where people of every sort constantly come and go, to put banknotes under one’s knee and read the newspaper, and then to go off to sell the newspapers without picking up the notes and putting them in one’s pocket — this is certainly negligence in safekeeping. In such a case, liability (daman) is binding for the loss of the notes.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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