Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (8/316)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

and they say that the left-handed person strikes more forcefully. So, if his work with his left hand is more effective than his work with his right, how can this be considered a defect? We have a principle by which to judge: does his being left-handed diminish his value? If those engaged in the slave trade say that it does not diminish his value, then it is not a defect; but if they say that it does diminish it, then it is a defect. If he is ambidextrous, however, it is not a defect, because this is an added advantage. An ambidextrous person is one who works equally well with both hands. Some people can use their right and left hands alike: they write with the right hand and write with the left hand. Thus, if one finds a person who is ambidextrous, this is an added advantage.

The author has confined himself to examples. In al-Rawḍ (1), many further examples are mentioned, but there is no need to read them, since we have a governing criterion: a defect is anything that diminishes the value of the item sold.

“If the buyer learns of the defect thereafter, he may retain it with compensation for the defect, which is the proportion represented by the difference between its sound value and its defective value; or he may return it and take back the price, …”

His statement, “If the buyer learns of the defect thereafter”: the subject is the buyer. This applies when the defect is in the item sold; or it may be the seller, when the defect is in the price, and this is possible.

For example, I sell you a sheep in exchange for goats: the sheep is the item sold, and the goats are the price. Thus, whether the buyer or the seller discovers a defect in a specified price [the ruling applies].

His statement, “thereafter,” raises a grammatical issue, since the word is in the nominative even though it is an adverb of time.

The answer to this issue is that the governed noun has been omitted while its meaning is intended. It therefore becomes indeclinable with a ḍammah; thus, the vowel here is a vowel of indeclinability, not one of grammatical inflection.

(1) Al-Rawd, with Ibn Qasim's marginal commentary, vol. 4, p. 442.

ويقال: إن ضرب الأعسر أشد، فإذا كان عمله بيساره أشد من عمله بيمينه فكيف يكون عيباً؟! ولدينا قاعدة نبني عليها: هل تنقص قيمته إذا كان أعسر؟ إذا قال أهل البيع في الرقيق: إنها لا تنقص فليس بعيب، وإن قالوا: تنقص فهو عيب، فإذا كان أعسر يَسِر لم يكن عيباً؛ لأن هذا زيادة خير، والأعسر اليسر الذي يعمل بيديه جميعاً على حد سواء، فيوجد بعض الناس يعمل باليد اليمنى واليسرى سواءً، يكتب باليمنى ويكتب باليسرى، فنقول: إذا وجد أعسر يسر فهو زيادة خير. اقتصر الماتن على أمثلة، وزاد في «الروض» (١) أمثلة كثيرة لا حاجة لقراءتها؛ لأن لدينا ضابطاً، وهو أن العيب كل ما ينقص قيمة المبيع. فَإذَا عَلِمَ المُشْتَرِي العَيبَ بَعْدُ أمْسَكَهُ بَأرْشِهِ، وَهُوَ قِسْطُ مَا بَيْنَ قِيمَةِ الصّحَةِ والعَيْبِ، أَوْ رَدَّه وَأخَذَ الثَّمَنَ، … قوله: «فإذا علم المشتري العيب بعدُ» الفاعل المشتري، هذا إذا كان العيب في المبيع، أو البائع إذا كان العيب في الثمن وهذا يمكن. مثاله: بعتك شاة بماعز، الشاة مبيع والماعز ثمن، فإذا علم سواء المشتري، أو البائع في ثمن معين. وقوله: «بعدُ» فيه إشكال بكون الكلمة مرفوعة مع أنها ظرف زمان. والجواب على الإشكال أنه حُذِف المضاف إليه ونوي معناه، فصار مبنيّاً على الضم، فالحركة هنا حركة بناء، وليست حركة إعراب.

(١) «الروض مع حاشية ابن القاسم» (٤/ ٤٤٢).