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Fatwa CenterDo not dispose of the trust except with the permission of its owner
Question
Assalaamu alaikum, Recently someone left this country and left me in charge of some of their possessions, as well as giving me some to keep. Included were many cassettes of Quran recitation, some of them are very old and therefore the quality is very poor, and some of them the tape is damaged in places, therefore I don't want to listen to these particular ones. My question is how can I dispose of these damaged ones? I thought it might be OK to recyle the cassettes, but I can't find anywhere that does this, therefore the only solution would be to throw them away, but for obvious reasons I don't want to do that. Jazak Allah khair
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
It is an obligation to keep this trust for its owner and keep it until you give it back to her as it is. Allaah Says (what means): {Verily! Allaah commands that you should render back the trusts to those, to whom they are due.}[Quran 4:58] Moreover, the Prophet said: "Render trust to whoever entrusted you, and do not betray whoever betrayed you.” [Ahmad, Abu Daawood, At-Tirmithi, An-Nasaa’i and Ibn Maajah]
The fact that these tapes include some damaged ones is not a sound reason for you to throw them away or to record something else on them without the permission of their owner, as she might have a different opinion than yours.
Also, you are not permitted to listen to these tapes except with the permission of its owner.
Allaah Knows best.
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