Luqata means something that someone finds in public places...

Luqata means something that someone finds in public places, whether it is property, animal, or human being.[^1] Discussing about the found properties and animals and the way to introduce and find their proprietor is again beyond the scope of this book, but talking about the babies abandoned in public places, which in legal terminology are named by three words of laqit , malqut , and manbudh ,[^2] is what we deal with in this chapter.

Of course, it is not to be neglected that many of the rulings set forth about the abandoned children are true for the unattended children too, namely the children who have for natural or social reasons lost their protectors. Thus, among the issues brought up in this chapter, we will talk about both topics – as relevant to the subject.

Laqit refers to any child who is abandoned to its fate, with no one to raise and take care of it.[^3] It goes without saying that if the child is old enough to be able to satisfy its own needs and to take care of its own health, this title ( laqit ) does not apply to it, nor do the rulings that we will talk about in the following.[^4] Now, if such a child has guardians, it will be handed over to them; otherwise, someone should undertake its custody.

It is also necessary to note that although the term laqit does not apply to the grown up people (adults) since they do not need to be taken care of (through custody), if their life is at risk, helping them and saving them from danger is obligatory to everyone.[^5] Necessity of Taking Care of the Unattended Children If we encounter a child in the streets or a public place who does not have a guardian or whose legal guardian has abandoned and this child is wandering about with no shelter, what should we do?

There are three views in the legal texts concerning the duty of the people who encounter such children: Most of the Shiʿa jurists believe that collecting the abandoned and unattended children and taking care of them is a collective or communal ( kifa’i ) duty, i.e., if one person undertakes it, others will be exempt from this task.