but with property whose condition is unaffected by the identity of the user, no liability arises. Thus, if the contract names a single person to live in the house, he may nevertheless lodge someone else there.

If the contract specifies a type or quantity to be loaded on the animal—such as “five qafiz of wheat”—the lessee may instead load something that causes the same or less wear, like barley or sesame, but he may not load anything more damaging than wheat, such as salt or iron.

If he hired the animal expressly to carry his cotton, he may not replace it with an equal weight of iron. Should he hire it for riding and then take a second rider behind him, and the animal dies, he must pay half its value; the assessment is not based on the passengers’ combined weight.

If he rents it to carry a stated amount of wheat, then exceeds that amount and the animal dies, he is liable only for the excess weight. If he jerks the animal sharply by its bridle or strikes it and it dies, he is liable according to Abu Hanifa.

Hired workers fall into two categories.

1. The shared worker (ajir mushtarak) is not entitled to wages until he performs the work; examples include a dyer or cloth-fuller. The goods remain a trust in his possession: if they perish, he is not liable according to Abu Hanifa, whereas Abu Yusuf and Muhammad hold him liable. Damage resulting from his own act—such as tearing the cloth through excessive beating, a porter slipping and dropping the load, the rope by which a muleteer ties the load breaking, or a ship sinking because he overloaded it—is guaranteed. He is, however, not liable for harm to human beings; thus, if someone drowns in the boat or falls from the animal, he bears no liability. Likewise, if a blood-letter or cupping practitioner works within the customary area, he is not liable for any injury that occurs.

2. The exclusive worker (ajir khas) becomes entitled to his wage merely by presenting himself for the agreed period, even if no actual work is done, as when a man is hired for a month to serve or to herd sheep. He bears no liability, whether for property that perishes while in his custody or for damage arising from his work.

A lease, like a sale, can be rendered void by impermissible conditions. One who hires a slave for service may not take him on a journey unless that was expressly stipulated.

If someone hires a camel to carry a palanquin and two riders to Mecca, the contract is valid; he is entitled to the customary palanquin, even if he has already seen