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Fatwa CenterLiability for causing damage unknowingly
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. Party A rented a room from a landlord. Party B was allowed to stay in the room by party A without any stated/signed terms. The landlord agreed. Party B was completely ignorant regarding the terms that Party A and the landlord agreed upon. Party A went overseas before the tenancy expired and entrusted Party B to vacate the room. The keys were returned to the landlord, yet not in the way that the landlord wanted. Party A did not brief Party B before going overseas, thus not making clear any formality that should have been followed at the time of returning the room (something that could have avoided part of the problem). The landlord deducted money from Party A's rental deposit for apparent infractions that were not stipulated in the contract. One of those apparent infractions were caused by an ignorant Party B (leaving the keys at the apartment versus returning them directly to the owner. Again, not stipulated in the contract and can be interpreted as malice on behalf of the landlord). Instead of disputing this with the landlord because of the landlord's unwillingness and Party A's apathy, Party A is now asking Party B to pay a portion of what was deducted from Party A's deposit money. Question: based on the above circumstances and from an Islamic point of view, does Party A have the right to charge Party B for losing money due to a deceitful landlord (based on an agreement that Party B has nothing to do with)?
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.
The questioner did not mention if any damage was caused to the rented room as a result of what the friend, leaving the keys inside the room. Since this is the case, there is no ground for asking the friend to pay a portion of the imposed fine. Hence, this friend is not obliged to contribute in paying the fine imposed by the landlord on the tenant. However, if it happened that leaving the keys inside the room caused some kind of damage, then the friend's liability to pay a portion of the imposed fine is determined according to the extent of his negligence. If leaving the keys inside the room is considered negligence on his part according to customs, then he is liable for a portion of the imposed fine; otherwise, he is not liable for anything.
The Kuwaiti Encyclopedia of Fiqh reads:
"Negligence entails liability in transactions that normally do not entail liability such as deposits, delegation, mortgage, sharecropping, mudharabah (profit sharing), and Ijarah (lease) because the negligent party causes damages by falling short in fulfilling the obligation of preserving the subject matter. This is according to the scholarly consensus in this regard. The negligence that entails liability is that which people consider to be negligence in preserving this kind of trust according to customs..." [End of quote]
Allaah knows best.
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