cases, in which the hire is terminated upon the death of the recipient of the hired service. (The first) is the death of the child whom someone was hired to breastfeed. (The second) is the death of the child whom someone was hired to teach. (The third) is the death of the animal whom someone was hired to train. (The fourth) is where someone hires a man to have a stallion cover a mare a specified number of times, but the mare refuses further mating before that number is completed. The hire is then terminated with respect to the remaining coverings, and the hirer is not told: “Bring a comparable mare for the remaining coverings.”

The second type is hiring someone to perform work involving a particular object, where the work has no endpoint unless the destinations are specified. This means hiring him to transport a particular load. There is no disagreement that such a hire is permissible, even without stipulating replacement. If the load is lost, however, there are four opinions:

(The first), which is the well-known position within the school, is that the hire is not terminated. This was the view adopted by Muhammad ibn al-Mawwāz, who said: “Specifying the load serves only to describe what is to be carried.” The same position appears in the section entitled Direction of Prayer, among Ibn al-Qāsim’s transmitted reports in the Book of Riding Animals and Beasts of Burden; in the section entitled Talq ibn Habīb, among Ibn al-Qāsim’s transmitted reports in the Book of Task-Based Rewards and Hiring; and in the first section of Asbagh’s transmitted reports in the latter book.

(The second) is that the hire is terminated by the loss of the load. This is Asbagh’s position and what he transmitted from Ibn al-Qāsim in the section entitled Hire and Judicial Rulings, among his transmitted reports in the Book of Riding Animals and Beasts of Burden. The carrier is entitled to a proportion of his fee corresponding to the distance travelled.

(The third) distinguishes between loss caused by the conveyance carrying the load and loss through an act of God. If the loss is caused by the conveyance carrying it, the hire is terminated for the remainder of the journey, and the carrier is entitled to a proportion of his fee corresponding to the distance already travelled. If the loss occurs through an act of God, the hirer must provide a comparable replacement, and the hire is not terminated. This is Mālik’s position, may Allah have mercy on him, in the first section of Asbagh’s transmitted reports in the Book of Task-Based Rewards and Hiring.

(The fourth) is that if the loss is caused by the conveyance carrying the load, the hire is terminated and the carrier is entitled to no fee for the distance already travelled. If the loss occurs through an act of God, the hirer must provide a comparable replacement, and the hire is not terminated. This is Ibn al-Qāsim’s position in al-Mudawwana and what he transmitted from Mālik.

(The third type) is hiring someone to perform work involving a particular object, where the work has an uncertain endpoint. An example is hiring him