Is it permissible to demand our right to a treasure that one of our neighbors stealthily extracted from our land, given the evidence of the use of sorcery and jinn?
It is not permissible to use jinn to extract treasures. A treasure either bears a sign of Islam, such as the name of the Prophet (peace be upon him), in which case it is considered a lost item (luqata). It should be announced for a year, and if its owner is not found, the finder may possess it, returning it to its owner whenever he appears. Or it may bear a sign of pre-Islamic ignorance (Jahiliyyah), such as a cross, in which case one-fifth of it must be extracted and disbursed according to the channels of zakat. Scholars have agreed on this, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "And in a rikaz (buried treasure) there is one-fifth." They differed regarding the remaining four-fifths, whether it belongs to the finder or to the owner of the land. Or it may bear no sign at all, in which case they differed whether it is a lost item (luqata) or a buried treasure (rikaz). It is recommended to present the matter to the judiciary.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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