Amaanat (Trusts)

Q: I have moved into a new home. The previous owner was not Muslim. He had left some baking trays that fit into the oven that he left here which I presume he was not using. I am not sure if he would have cooked any haraam food with the trays. I wanted to throw his trays away but now some of my baking trays were placed in the same draw and they got mixed up so I don't know which are mine and which are his. Is it fine if I end up using the dishes that he used to cook with as long as its washed with sunlight and water?

Q: I currently live in Pretoria and work in Jet Park (I travel about 128km a day to and from work). Currently I use my car everyday to work and back. I have previously looked at the Gautrain as an alternative, however it worked out a little too expensive for me.

Recently, my small brother informed me that he receives a discount on his Gautrain trips (as he is a student) but doesn't use this discount as his campus isn't so far and it's easier for him to drive. As he isn't using this discount- He had offered it to me to use his discount to travel to work.

My question - Would it be permissible to use his discount for my benefit (considering he is a student and I am not)?

Q: I would like to find out about some money someone gave me to look after.

Now I have used some of it for myself and haven’t told them. But in my mind I know that I have it and will return it when they ask for it. Is this ok, or should I have asked their permission before using it?

Also, I have put some of the money in an Islamic bank which gives some profit. My question is do I have to give them the profit as well as the money they lent me or just what they originally gave? 

Q: If a person left some money as amaanat with someone, and thereafter the owner of the amaanat passed away, who will be the owner of the amaanat money and what should be done with it? 

Q: I live in a rented apartment in the UK. Before renting an apartment in UK, we have to pay a deposit which is refundable when we leave the apartment. By mistake my landlord created 2 deposits and I got twice the money back when I left the apartment. I contacted my landlord and told them that this was a mistake on their part and they told me they will contact me soon about this issue. They haven’t contacted me yet. Since I have done my duty of informing them and if they don’t ask for it back or claim it, is it halaal for me to keep the money?

Q: I earned money when I was young and bought a house on my brother's name. Now my brother is telling that this is his house and he will not give it to me.

Q: I own a petrol station. Certain customers want to open an account to buy fuel on credit. Can I take a deposit from them for opening an account?

Q: An owner of a Filling Station who sells Fuel on credit, where payments are made monthly, requests a deposit equal to the monthly fuel consumption.

Q: A brother had left some boxes of stock at my premises and he requested me to deliver the stock to his suppliers since he wanted to return the stock to them. We attempted to deliver the stock back to his suppliers but was unsuccessful as the suppliers were not helpful and did not accept the delivery. The stock was then brought back and kept at my premises. All of this was told to the brother.

My premises has a main gate in the front which is always kept locked besides the time when there is a need to open and close the gate. After entering the premises through the main front gate, you have to pass through the yard to then enter the building which has another small gate that is locked in the nights. Most of the time in the day its left unlocked. As you enter the building there is a staircase that goes to the first and second floor. We reside on the first floor and the second floor is rented to Muslim tenants. His stock was kept on the ground floor underneath the stair case.

For a number of months more than a year I have always requested the brother to please arrange to collect his stock. Even sometimes he used to visit me but he never used to take his stock with him although I had asked him to. Recently he came to my premises to collect his stock and we found that the boxes were empty meaning someone must have stolen the contents inside of the box and left the empty boxes there. Where his stock was kept, I had also stored many of my own belongings and valuables and after we discovered his stock had gone missing, I started realising some of my things had also disappeared.

Now during all of this time, there were many people that has access the where the stock was stored such as workers, welders who worked at the premises, etc…

Please advise if I will be responsible in any way for this stock getting stolen. The brother did not ask me for any compensation for the stock but I just want to know in terms of Sharia whether there is any obligation from my side.

Q: I have taken/borrowed some money from a shop as I do not have enough money. I told the shopkeeper that I will give you the remaining amount next time I come, so he agreed and he further reminded me to pay otherwise on dooms day Allah will ask me about it. I didn't give him the remaining amount but now few months later I visited his shop to pay the remaining amount but the shop has been closed. When I asked about him from some of his neighbour's shops, they told me that he has closed his shop from here. I want to pay him his remaining amount. Can you guide me what I have to do?