Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "A man bought a piece of land from another man, and the buyer found a jar filled with gold in the land. The buyer said to the seller: `Take your gold, as I bought only the land from you and not the gold. The owner of the land said: `I sold you the land with everything in it. So both of them took their case before a third man who asked: `Have you any children? One of them said: `I have a boy. The other said, `I have a girl. The man said: `Marry the girl to the boy and spend the money on them; and whatever remains give it in charity."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Commentary:
This is the story of some people from the past, in which exemplary honesty, piety and the will to abstain from the doubtful property has been described. But as far as the law of Shari`ah is concerned, it appears that in the transaction of land, any buried treasure will not be included in the sale. It will be considered quite separately and apart from the sale of the land. If the previous owner says that the treasure belongs to him and he forgot to take it out, then it will be considered as his property and not the property of the buyer of the land. But if he shows ignorance about it, then it will be considered under the title of "Rikaz". In such a case, one-fifth of it goes to the public treasury and the rest to the owner of the land. Rikaz refers to any buried treasure which is discovered in any land.
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