Must I Inform Owners After Repairing Accidental Property Damage?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
If I accidentally damage a plowed field and repair it without informing the owner, must I still notify them, especially if doing so could harm the relationship? Are the displaced soil chunks considered stolen?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
If you accidentally damage someone else’s property, you are responsible for replacing it or paying for its value. If it is something that you can replace exactly the way it was, or better, both in function and aesthetics, you have fulfilled your responsibility. That is, if you have explicit or assumed permission to do so (i.e., you know with reasonable surety that the person would be content with this had you asked him).
However, if you are unable to replace it completely as described above, you must inform the person and pay them the value of the damage.
In both cases, you are not allowed to take the displaced soil as it does not become your property.
Related
- Can I Pay Charity as Expiation for Damaging Someone’s Property?
- Do I Have To Compensate For Accidental Loss and Damage To Someone’s Property?
- Do I Have to Pay Back Damages Caused to Public Property?
- How Do I Find The Owner of Property I Damaged?
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he went on to study at Darul Uloom Seminary in New York and completed his studies at Darul Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen.
There, he completed the memorization of the Quran and his study of Islamic Sciences. Throughout his years of study, he was blessed to learn from many great scholars: Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Habib Kazhim al-Saqqaf, Shaykh ‘Umar bin Husayn al-Khatib, and others.
Upon returning, he joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
