Hadith 39575

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said from Salim ibnAbdullah that Abdullah ibn Umar sold one of his slaves for eighthundred dirhams with the stipulation that he was not responsible fordefects. The person who bought the slave complained to Abdullah ibnUmar that the slave had a disease which he had not told him about.They argued and went to Uthman ibn Affan for a decision . The mansaid, "He sold me a slave with a disease which he did not tell meabout." Abdullah said, "I sold to him with the stipulation that I wasnot responsible." Uthman ibn Affan decided that Abdullah ibn Umarshould take an oath that he had sold the slave without knowing that hehad any disease. Abdullah ibn Umar refused to take the oath, so theslave was returned to him and recovered his health in his possession.Abdullah sold him afterwards for 1500 dirhams.Malik said,"The generally agreed upon way of doing things among us about a manwho buys a female slave and she becomes pregnant, or who buys a slaveand then frees him, or if there is any other such matter which hasalready happened so that he cannot return his purchase, and a clearproof is established that there was a fault in that purchase when itwas in the hands of the seller or the fault is admitted by the selleror someone else, is that the slave or slave-girl is assessed for itsvalue with the fault it is found to have had on the day of purchaseand the buyer is refunded,from what he paid,the difference between theprice of a slave who is sound and a slave with such a defect.Malik said, "The generally agreed upon way of doing things among usregarding a man who buys a slave and then finds out that the slave hasa defect for which he can be returned and meanwhile another defect hashappened to the slave whilst in his possession, is that if the defectwhich occurred to the slave in his possession has harmed him, likeloss of a limb, loss of an eye, or something similar, then he has achoice. If he wants, he can have the price of the slave reducedcommensurate with the defect (he bought him with ) according to theprices on the day he bought him, or if he likes, he can paycompensation for the defect which the slave has suffered in hispossession and return him. The choice is up to him. If the slave diesin his possession, the slave is valued with the defect which he had onthe day of his purchase. It is seen what his price would really havebeen. If the price of the slave on the day of purchase without faultwas 100 dinars, and his price on the day of purchase with fault wouldhave been 80 dinars, the price is reduced by the difference. Theseprices are assessed according to the market value on the day the slavewas purchased . "Malik said, "The generally agreed upon wayof doing things among us is that if a man returns a slave girl in whomhe has found a defect and he has already had intercourse with her, hemust pay what he has reduced of her price if she was a virgin. If shewas not a virgin, there is nothing against his having had intercoursewith her because he had charge of her."Malik said, "Thegenerally agreed upon way of doing things among us regarding a person,whether he is an inheritor or not, who sells a slave, slave-girl, oranimal without a liability agreement is that he is not responsible forany defect in what he sold unless he knew about the fault andconcealed it. If he knew that there was a fault and concealed it, hisdeclaration that he was free of responsibility does not absolve him,and what he sold is returned to him."Malik spoke about asituation where a slave-girl was bartered for two other slave-girlsand then one of the slave-girls was found to have a defect for whichshe could be returned. He said, "The slave-girl worth two other slave-girls is valued for her price. Then the other two slave-girls arevalued, ignoring the defect which the one of them has. Then the priceof the slave-girl sold for two slave-girls is divided between themaccording to their prices so that the proportion of each of them inher price is arrived at - to the higher priced one according to herhigher price, and to the other according to her value. Then one looksat the one with the defect, and the buyer is refunded according to theamount her share is affected by the defect, be it little or great. Theprice of the two slave-girls is based on their market value on the daythat they were bought."Malik spoke about a man who bought aslave and hired him out on a long-term or short-term basis and thenfound out that the slave had a defect which necessitated his return.He said that if the man returned the slave because of the defect, hekept the hire and revenue. "This is the way in which things are donein our city. That is because, had the man bought a slave who thenbuilt a house for him, and the value of the house was many times theprice of the slave, and he then found that the slave had a defect forwhich he could be returned, and he was returned, he would not have tomake payment for the work the slave had done for him. Similarly, hewould keep any revenue from hiring him out, because he had charge ofhim. This is the way of doing things among us."Malik said,"The way of doing things among us when someone buys several slaves inone lot and then finds that one of them has been stolen, or has adefect, is that he looks at the one he finds has been stolen or theone in which he finds a defect. If he is the pick of those slaves, orthe most expensive, or it was for his sake that he bought them, or heis the one in whom people see the most excellence, then the whole saleis returned. If the one who is found to be stolen or to have a defectis not the pick of the slaves, and he did not buy them for his sake,and there is no special virtue which people see in him, the one who isfound to have a defect or to have been stolen is returned as he is,and the buyer is refunded his portion of the total price."