A man who takes a stray camel and spends on it

It is narrated from al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man's camel went missing. He found his camel with another man who was feeding it and watering it, and who had fattened it with fodder. The two of them took their dispute to Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him), who was the governor of Madinah at that time. He ruled that the camel belonged to its owner and made him liable to pay for its expenses.

Al-Sha'bi said: That did not please me, and he said: The man takes his camel, and no maintenance cost is due from him.

Al-Nu'man bin Murrah narrated to Sa'id bin al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him): I saw that Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had built an enclosure for stray camels. They were given fodder there, neither fattening them much nor making them very lean, and the entire expense was borne by the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal). Those camels would raise their necks and look out. If someone brought witnesses for any camel, he would take it; otherwise they stayed in the enclosure in that same state, and it was not sold. Sa'id bin al-Musayyib used to say: If I were made the ruler of the Muslims, I would do the same.