I work in one of the hotels in Madinah, and a lot of visitors and pilgrims stay with me. Three days ago, a pilgrim found a sum of money and handed it in to me, because I work in reception, as all the lost items end up with us in the hotel. Three days have passed, and no one has come to ask about it.

Should I give it in charity?

If I use it to buy, say, a calf or a goat, and distribute the meat to the poor and to my family, is this permissible or not?

Praise
be to Allah

Firstly:

The fuqaha’ differed concerning lost property found in the
Haram. According to the Hanafis, Maalikis and Hanbalis – and one of the two
reports from ash-Shaafa‘i – it is like lost property found outside the Haram.
The apparent meaning of the words of Ahmad – and one of the two reports from
ash-Shaafa‘i – suggests that whoever picks up lost property in the Haram
must announce it forever, until its owner comes, because the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “No one should pick up lost
property (in the Haram) except one who will announce it.” Agreed upon.


Al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah
(2/274)

The more correct view is that it is not permissible for
anyone to pick up lost property of the Haram except one who will announce
it, because of the report quoted above. An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on
him) said:

According to the report, “Lost property (in the Haram) is not
permissible except for one who will announce it.” What the hadith means is
that it is not permissible to pick up its lost property for one who will
announce it for a year, then keep it for himself, as is the case in all
other lands. Rather it is not permissible (to pick it up) except for one who
will announce it forever, and will not keep it for himself. This is the view
of ash-Shaafa‘i, ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Mahdi, Abu ‘Ubayd, and others. Maalik
said: It is permissible to keep it after announcing it for a year, as is the
case in all other lands. This was also the view of some of the companions of
ash-Shaafa‘i; their interpretation of the hadith was not sound. End quote.

Secondly:

Based on that, does lost property found in the Haram of
Madinah come under the same ruling?

The majority of the Shaafa‘is – who are the ones who say that
it is haraam to ever keep for oneself lost property found in the Haram of
Makkah, as stated above – are of the view that this ruling is one of the
things that apply uniquely to the Haram of Makkah, and it does not apply to
the Haram of Madinah.

Shaykh Zakariyya al-Ansaari said:

No one should pick up lost property in the Haram of Makkah
except one who will protect it, because of the report narrated by al-Bukhaari
which says that Allah has made this land sacred and it is not permissible
for anyone to pick up its lost property except one who will announce it
forever. Otherwise, all other lands are the same, so there would be no
reason to single out the Haram of Makkah by mentioning it specifically. That
excludes the Haram of Madinah, therefore it is like all other lands in terms
of the ruling on lost property, as was stated clearly by ad-Daarimi and
ar-Rooyaani. But the author of al-Intisaar suggested that it is like
the Haram of Makkah, as in the case of the prohibition on game hunting, and
this view was shared by al-Bulqeeni, because of the report of Abu Dawood
concerning Madinah, which has a saheeh isnaad, “Its lost property is not to
be picked up except by one who will announce it” – meaning that he will
raise his voice in announcing it.

End quote from Asna al-Mataalib by Shaykh Zakariyya
al-Ansaari (2/494)

Al-Khateeb ash-Sharbeeni said:

Mentioning the Haram of Makkah means that the Haram of
Madinah is excluded – may the best of blessings and peace be upon its
inhabitant – for it is not like the Haram of Makkah; rather it is like all
other lands, as was stated by the majority of scholars.

End quote from al-Iqnaa‘ (2/375). See also: Mughni
al-Muhtaaj (3/569)

This view was favoured by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah
have mercy on him), as it says in Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb (245/8),
and by Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan:


http://islamancient.com/play.php?catsmktba=56043#

See also the answer to question no. 4050.

Based on that, whoever finds lost property in the Haram of
Madinah must announce it for one year before taking possession of it or
disposing of it. Three days is not sufficient; you must either protect it
and announce it for an entire year, or hand it over to the department that
deals with such matters in Madinah, and they can keep it and take care of it
as a trust, especially since there are some scholars who are of the view
that it is not permissible for the one who finds lost property in Madinah to
keep it for himself, even after one year.

See also the answers to questions no. 5049
and 4046.

 And Allah knows best.