Madrasa staff taking possession of the belongings of a student who left the madrasa leaving them behind

Question

If a student, for some reason, leaves a madrasa and goes to another madrasa, having left his belongings and the like in the first madrasa, the rector of the madrasa confiscates these belongings and becomes their heir. Is this conduct of the madrasa staff permissible in the Shari‘a or impermissible? Are the madrasa staff in the right in confiscating these belongings, or are they wrongdoers? Are these belongings halal or haram for them? For Hazrat Thanawi ﵀ has written in “Dastur-e Zindagi” (“Rules of Life”)

Answer

They have no right whatsoever to confiscate these belongings; doing so is usurpation (ghasb) and wrongdoing. If the madrasa has some valid claim against the one who left, it has the right to recover it. What Hazrat Thanawi ﵀ wrote is correct and is established by hadith and fiqh.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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