Question Summary:
i asked my friend for a favour to please leave a car at a certain garage….now my friend sends me an sms today which reads “i think you should sort out the bill cos i did u the favour the bill is R2165.”

Question Detail:

please assist me with a fatwa based on the ffg situation. i asked my friend for a favour to please leave a car at a certain garage for me where he works my friend did so and by mistake left his bag in the car a person at the garage stole his bag and after enquiries got his bag back but his cellphone was not in there he had a contract phone in it and some1 stole it my friend did not cancel the contract or let his service provider know that it got stolen and let the person use the phone when he saw what numbers had been used on it he found the culprit who happened to be some1 that works at the garage now my friend phoned him and threatened him and got him to come to his shop and the culprit and his father agreed to pay him the culprit paid some intalments and never paid anymore and this is when my friend tells me about this story  and asked me to please speak to the owner of the garage and try and get the money out i called the owner who i think fired the staff and the owner said he would sort it out which he did not up til now my friend sends me an sms today which reads "i think you should sort out the bill cos i did u the favour the bill is R2165."

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
The shar’i ruling herein given will be based on the question posed and should be read in conjunction with the question.
In principle if a person lends you an item or entrusts you with something, there will be no responsibility upon you if that item was destroyed in your possession without your negligence.
الوديعة امانة في يد المودع اذا هلكت لم يضمنها
[At Tasheeh Wat Tarjeeh Ala Mukhtasar Al Qudoori Pg 301 Daarul Kutub]
 
والعارية امانة ان هلكت من غير تعد لم يضمن
[At Tasheeh Wat Tarjeeh Ala Mukhtasar Al Qudoori Pg 303 Daarul Kutub]
You will not be held responsible for any loss or damage incurred.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Ml. Ebrahim Desai,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah