Is the person who finds and takes custody of a foundling (*Multaqit*) obligated to provide maintenance (*Nafaqa*) if the foundling has no accompanying property?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Foundlings
Primary text
The general scholarly consensus is that the person who finds the foundling is not obligated to provide maintenance if no property accompanies the foundling. This consensus is recorded by Ibn al-Mundhir. The reasons are that the prerequisites for maintenance—kinship, marital status, ownership, or patronage (*Wala*)—are absent. The act of taking custody is merely an act of saving the child from perishing and a voluntary undertaking of care, which does not necessitate maintenance, just as if the act were done to a non-foundling. Maintenance is therefore due from the public treasury (*Bayt al-Mal*), based on the ruling of Umar, peace be upon him, that the foundling is free and his patronage belongs to the state, and the state bears his maintenance cost. This is also because the public treasury is considered the heir and responsible for the foundling's assets.
Supporting text
If maintenance cannot be provided from the public treasury, either due to its emptiness or the absence of an established ruler, then it becomes an obligation upon the knowledgeable Muslims to provide maintenance collectively, based on the verse commanding cooperation in righteousness and piety (Quran 5:2). Failing to provide maintenance leads to the child's destruction, and saving him is obligatory, making this a collective duty (*Fard Kifayah*); if some fulfill it, the obligation is lifted from others, but if all neglect it, they all sin.