Liability for destroying a trust

Question

Question: If a person placed his property in trust (amana) with another Muslim, for example grain, gold, silver and the like, and the latter, without permission, put it to his own use, and now that person asks the trustee (amin) for his trust, but the trustee says, “It has been spent; take the value of your trust.” At present the price of that item is four rupees per maund (a unit of weight, ≈ 37 kg), whereas when the trust was deposited the rate was two rupees per maund.

Answer

By disposing of the trust property without necessity, the trustee (amin) has become like an usurper (ghasib); and if an usurper destroys the usurped thing, its substitute becomes due from him: for fungible (mithli) property its like, and for non-fungible (qimi) property its value.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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