Among their arguments is that, even if the seller himself wished to extinguish the husband’s marital right, he could not do so. The buyer, whose position is inferior to the seller’s, cannot therefore possess greater power than he does, nor can the title established for the buyer be more complete than the seller’s title. The husband is under legal protection, and his right may not lawfully be appropriated. This differs from the case of a woman taken captive, concerning which there is a disagreement that need not be discussed here, because the lives and property of enemy belligerents are lawful to take, as are the marital claims they hold.

Likewise, the hadith jurists and the scholars of the Hijaz agree that when someone sells trees whose fruit has appeared—such as pollinated date palms—the fruit belongs to the seller, who is entitled to leave it on the trees until fully ripe. The seller has thus reserved the use of the trees until the fruit reaches full ripeness. Similarly, most of them permit the sale of a leased asset—such as a house or a slave. The purchaser acquires ownership of it, but not the usufruct vested in the lessee.

[Thus the hadith jurists], such as Ahmad and others, permit part of the benefit conveyed by a contract to be reserved, as in the cases on which there is agreement, [and as with reserving] a part of its subject matter, whether specifically identified or held as an undivided share. They likewise permit specifically identified parts to be reserved when they are customarily separated, as when a sheep is sold with some portions reserved from the sale, such as its lower-value portions—the head, hide, and trotters.

The same applies to leasing. An unrestricted contract entails a particular type of use in leases measured by time, as when someone rents land for cultivation, a shop in which to conduct trade or a craft, or hires a worker for tailoring, construction, or the like. If the parties add to or reduce what an unrestricted contract would otherwise entail, that is permissible, and I know of no disagreement concerning it.

In marriage, an unrestricted contract confers an unrestricted right to sexual relations, within the bounds recognized by custom, wherever and whenever the husband wishes, and he may relocate her