or drinks wine, or does anything similar that diminishes his value. There is disagreement concerning this. Al-Mudawwana states that if someone buys a female slave, arranges her marriage, and then discovers a defect, the marriage constitutes a diminution, and he may return her only if he also compensates for the diminution caused by the marriage. This means that he may alternatively retain her and recover compensation for the defect.

Ibn Habīb said: If a male slave commits fornication, drinks wine, or steals, this does not constitute a diminution for which the buyer must pay compensation when returning him upon discovering a defect. A possible distinction between the two cases is that marriage is a defect known to have arisen after the purchase, so the buyer may return the slave only with compensation for the resulting diminution. By contrast, when theft, wine-drinking, or fornication becomes apparent in a slave after the purchase, it is uncertain whether this was already latent in him before the purchase; the buyer is therefore not required to compensate for the diminution.

On this same basis, they distinguished between a witness who testifies for a woman and then marries her before judgment is passed in her favour on his testimony, or who testifies for a man and then develops a dispute and enmity with him before judgment is passed on his testimony, and a witness who testifies for a man and then drinks wine, commits fornication, or steals before judgment is passed on his testimony. His testimony is rejected in this last case but remains admissible in the first two.

Section

If we adopt this view, diminution through a change in the condition of the item sold falls into two categories: (the first) a diminution known to have arisen after the purchase; and a diminution whose cause becomes apparent after the purchase, although it is uncertain whether it arose before or after it.

As for diminution through a change in the item itself, this takes one of three forms: (the first) a slight diminution; (the second) a substantial diminution that does not destroy the greater part of the item or most of its utility; and (the third) one that destroys the greater part of the item and most of its utility.

A slight diminution—such as the loss of a nail or a fingertip in slaves of low value, fever, inflammation of the eyes, bodily collapse, and similar conditions—does not constitute a legally significant alteration. The buyer may either retain the item without recovering anything or return it without owing anything. As for a substantial diminution that does not destroy the greater part of the item or most of its utility, it gives the buyer the choice between retaining it and recovering compensation for the defect, or returning it and paying compensation for the diminution in its value caused by