Section
This is my analysis of the issue and the conclusions I derive from it. It has, however, been interpreted in many ways. Some understand Ibn al-Qāsim’s statement in the Book of Partnership in al-Mudawwana concerning the restriction of an agent’s authority as agreeing with Ashhab’s position, since it does not explicitly state that the agent was unaware that his agency had terminated. They therefore interpret his statement as assuming that the agent knew. They apply the same reasoning to the principal’s death, saying that if the agent is unaware of his principal’s death, whoever pays him bears no liability unless the payer knows, in which case he acts wrongfully in making the payment.
Others distinguish between the restriction of an agent’s authority and the principal’s death. They say that, in the case of death, an unwitting payer is exempted from liability only out of consideration for the opinion that agency does not terminate upon the principal’s death, even if the agent knows, and that the agent remains entitled to act until the heirs dismiss him. On this interpretation, the debtor is liable when the agent’s authority has been restricted, even if neither of them knows, whereas in the case of death, only a payer who knows is liable.
Others say that this represents a difference of opinion, with no distinction between the two cases. They therefore extend the differing opinions concerning each case to the other. Thus, concerning the agent’s death, there are three opinions:
The first is that whoever pays the agent after the principal’s death is not discharged from his debt, even if the payer is unaware, whether or not the agent knows of the principal’s death.
The second is that the payer is discharged by paying the agent if the payer is unaware, whether or not the agent knows.
The third is that an unwitting payer is discharged by paying the agent if the agent is also unaware of the principal’s death, but is not discharged if the agent knows.
There are likewise three opinions concerning the agent’s dismissal:
The first is that whoever pays him is not discharged, even if the payer is unaware, whether or not the agent knows of his dismissal.
The second is that an unwitting payer is discharged by paying him, whether or not the agent knows of his dismissal.
The third is that an unwitting payer is discharged by paying him if the agent is also unaware of his dismissal, but is not discharged if