What is the ruling on searching for buried treasure? What must one who finds it do?
Please note the following:
1. Treasure linguistically refers to any wealth that has been accumulated and hoarded; as Allah Almighty has said about Qarun: ﴿وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْكُنُوزِ مَا إِنَّ مَفَاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُولِي الْقُوَّةِ﴾[1]; “And We gave him so much treasure the keys to which would weigh down a group of strong men.” Hoarding wealth is the act of those who incurred Allah’s wrath and the misguided; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ الذَّهَبَ وَالْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنْفِقُونَهَا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُمْ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ يَوْمَ يُحْمَى عَلَيْهَا فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ فَتُكْوَى بِهَا جِبَاهُهُمْ وَجُنُوبُهُمْ وَظُهُورُهُمْ ۖ هَذَا مَا كَنَزْتُمْ لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ فَذُوقُوا مَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْنِزُونَ﴾[2]; “And those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of Allah, give them the tidings of a painful punishment. On the Day when that (gold and silver) will be heated in the fire of Hell, then their foreheads, sides, and backs will be branded with it. (It will be said to them,) ‘This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you hoarded.’” Therefore, hoarding wealth is not permissible unless there is a rational and religious necessity to do so; as Allah Almighty has said in the story of Musa and Khidr : ﴿وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنْزٌ لَهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَنْ يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنْزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ﴾[3]; “As for the wall (that I repaired without payment), it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was treasure beneath it that belonged to them. Their father was a righteous man, so your Lord wanted them to reach maturity and take out their treasure as a mercy from your Lord.”
2. In Islamic terminology, treasure refers to any ordinary buried wealth whose owner is unlikely to be alive. The early scholars stipulated that it should be what was buried during the pre-Islamic era[4], and perhaps it was due to the proximity of their era to it and the possibility of the existence of an owner for what was buried during the Islamic era. There is no disagreement among scholars that khums must be paid on treasure, except for what has been narrated from Hasan al-Basri about a distinction between treasure found in enemy territory and treasure found in Muslim territory; since he has claimed that khums must be paid on the former, and zakat must be paid on the latter[5], but there is no known evidence for this view. The well-known evidence is the word of Allah Almighty: ﴿وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا غَنِمْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَأَنَّ لِلَّهِ خُمُسَهُ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ﴾[6]; “And know that anything you gain as booty, surely one-fifth of it belongs to Allah and to the Prophet and his relatives, and to the orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer”; considering that the phrase ﴿مَا غَنِمْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ﴾; “anything you gain as booty” in it is general, even though it has been revealed regarding the spoils of war, and the occasion of the revelation does not specify the scope of the application. Therefore, khums must be paid on whatever the human being gains as booty, which is any desirable wealth that he obtains without giving anything in return, including treasure. It has been proven from the Messenger of Allah that he said: «فِي الرِّكَازِ الْخُمُسُ»[7]; “Khums is paid on rikaz,” and rikaz refers to any wealth that is buried in the ground. Therefore, it includes treasure, even though it is more commonly used to refer to minerals. It has also been narrated that he said about the treasure that a man found in ruins: «فِيهِ وَفِي الرِّكَازِ الْخُمُسُ»[8]; “Khums is paid on it and on rikaz.” Therefore, he made them distinct in name but shared in the ruling. In any case, whoever finds treasure must pay khums on it, and the rest of it belongs to him. However, if the treasure is something whose preservation benefits all Muslims, the Imam has the right to buy or borrow it from the finder to keep it in his possession, in which case the finder is not allowed to disobey the Imam’s command; because he is the caliph of Allah and His Messenger, and He has said: ﴿وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ﴾[9]; “And it is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter, to have a choice regarding the matter.”
3. Seeking treasure is an irrational act; as His Eminence Mansoor has said: «طَلَبُ الْكَنْزِ سَفَاهَةٌ»; “Seeking treasure is foolishness”; because it is seeking wealth in an inappropriate way. Also, it can be considered a form of spying; because it is an attempt to uncover one of the secrets of people. It is also based on thinking negatively of them, which is to suspect that they have hoarded their wealth instead of spending it in the way of Allah, while Allah Almighty has said: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا﴾[10]; “O you who believed! Avoid many of the suspicions, for some suspicions are sins, and do not spy (on one another).” Although the verse concerns Muslims and not disbelievers, it is also not desirable to commit an offense against disbelievers. The seeker may come across a Muslim’s treasure or another of his secrets, or he may find new wealth that he should identify, which is difficult, and therefore, he should not get involved in it. Based on this, seeking buried treasure is not the act of those who fear Allah, except when they come across it without searching, such as when digging a well, plowing a field, burying a deceased person, or doing something similar. In such cases, it is a provision that Allah has sent them, ﴿وَاللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ﴾[11]; “and Allah provides for whomever He wills without reckoning,” and provides for him from where he does not expect. They can use it lawfully and purely after paying khums on it; as one of our companions informed us, he said:
«كَانَ لِي صَدِيقٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ بَامِيَانَ، وَكَانَ يَبْحَثُ عَنِ الْكَنْزِ، فَدَعَانِي إِلَى ذَلِكَ عَلَى أَنْ يَكُونَ لِي نِصْفُهُ، فَقُلْتُ: حَتَّى أَسْأَلَ الْمَنْصُورَ، فَكَتَبْتُ إِلَيْهِ أَسْأَلُهُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ، فَكَتَبَ إِلَيَّ بِخَطِّهِ: لَا يَبْحَثُ عَنِ الْكَنْزِ إِلَّا سَفِيهٌ، وَمَنْ وَجَدَهُ فَلْيُؤَدِّ خُمُسَهُ، فَإِنَّهُ مِنَ الْغَنِيمَةِ»[12]; “I had a friend from Bamyan who was looking for treasure, so he invited me to do the same on the condition that I would have half of it, so I said: ‘I should ask Mansoor.’ Then I wrote to him and asked him about that, so he wrote to me in his handwriting: ‘None but a fool looks for treasure, and whoever finds it must pay the Khums of it; because it is of booty.’”