Is an employee who donated 4,000 Saudi riyals from lost pilgrim items – which he was unable to return to their owners after waiting four years – to the poor and needy in Makkah considered sinful, and what should he do to atone for that?

If lost items are found without knowing their owners, they are treated as a found item (luqata): they are handed over to the authority responsible for found items in the Haram, or publicized for a year. If their owners are not found, the finder may take ownership of them, while guaranteeing them to their owners if they are identified, or donate them on their behalf, giving them the choice. However, if they are trusts left by their owners by mistake or forgetfulness, and if the owners are unknown or cannot be reached, they should be given to the responsible authority or donated on their behalf, giving them the choice if they are found. If their owners are known, it is obligatory to return them. Sin occurs if a duty is neglected, or if one assists in neglecting it or delaying its performance.