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If it is mixed with something indistinguishable from it, such as oil with oil or wheat with wheat; or if he dyes a garment; or mixes sawīq (parched grain flour) with oil, or vice versa; and its value neither decreases nor increases, then they are partners in it in proportion to their respective property. But if its value decreases, he is liable for that decrease ………
His statement, “If it is mixed with something indistinguishable from it”: the pronoun in “if it is mixed” refers to the usurped property. When the usurped property is mixed, it is either mixed with something distinguishable from it or with something indistinguishable from it. Thus, there are two categories:
The first is when it is mixed with something indistinguishable from it, “such as oil with oil or wheat with wheat.” The like of oil is oil, and the like of wheat is wheat. For example, if someone usurps a vessel of oil and mixes it with a vessel of oil that he owns, it is then impossible to distinguish the usurped oil from the other, because they have become mixed. Likewise, if he mixes wheat with wheat, it cannot be distinguished because it has become mixed; it is impossible to distinguish the grain belonging to the usurper from that belonging to the owner of the usurped property. What, then, is the ruling?
The author, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “If its value neither decreases nor increases, then they are partners in it in proportion to their respective property. But if its value decreases, he is liable for that decrease.” An example is where he usurps one ṣāʿ of wheat and mixes it with one ṣāʿ of wheat of the same kind. In that case, they are partners, provided that the value neither decreases nor increases. If the value decreases as a result of the mixing—for instance, people prefer to buy a small quantity of wheat, while he has mixed one hundred ṣāʿs with one hundred ṣāʿs, causing the value to fall—then the usurper is liable for the decrease. But if its value neither decreases nor increases, then they are partners in proportion to their respective property. Thus, if the usurper owns two ṣāʿs