What is the ruling on selling or benefiting from materials left behind in abandoned oil exploration sites belonging to companies that left the country years ago?
The materials left by workers fall into two categories:
1. If the item is insignificant and worthless, there is no harm in benefiting from it, whether by selling it or otherwise. This is a matter of consensus among scholars.
2. If the item is valuable and significant, there are several possibilities:
They might have left it with the intention of returning for it later, in which case it is impermissible to take it.
They might have left it because they no longer want it; in this case, it is like something discarded in the trash, and there is no harm in benefiting from it.
They might have left it for the benefit of another party (companies, the state, individuals), in which case it is impermissible to take it.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/59232
Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 59232
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy