Suwayd ibn Ghafalah narrated that he went out with Zayd ibn Suhan and Salman ibn Rahiab. He found a whip. Ibn Numayr said in his hadith that he found a whip lying down. So he picked it up. His companions said, “Leave it alone”, but he said, “No, I will not leave it that beasts eat it. I will take it and benefit from it.” Afterwards, he went to Ubayy ibn Kab and asked him about it, narrating what had happened. He said, “You did well. In the times of the Prophet I had found a purse containing a hundred dinars. I took it to him and he said to me, Publicise it for a year.’ I announced about it through one year but did not find anyone knowing about it, so I went back to him, and he said, ‘Publicise it one more year.’ I did it for a year and went to him and he asked me to publicise another year, saying ‘Count them and remember the purse and the string with which it is tied.’ He said that I should hand it over to the claimant when he identifies it, otherwise I should retain it and use it.”
[Bukhari 2426, Muslim 1723, Abu Dawud 1701, Ibn e Majah 2506, Ahmed 21225]
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