and hold him liable for its value in its finished state, he may not do so unless the artisan acknowledges that it perished after the work was completed. The owner may then, if he wishes, pay the artisan his fee and hold him liable for the cloth’s value in its finished state. This follows the view that, if witnesses establish that it perished after completion, the owner must pay the fee and bear the loss himself. This is one of Ibn al-Qāsim’s two opinions recorded in the book of Ibn al-Mawwāz. Do you not see that, according to this view, if the artisan established by testimony that he had completed the work on the cloth, then claimed that it subsequently perished in his possession, the owner would have to pay the fee and hold him liable for the cloth’s value in its finished state? Thus, if the artisan makes this claim without establishing it by testimony, the owner may accept his account if he wishes.
According to the material transmitted by Yahyā in the Book of Riding Mounts and Other Animals, concerning someone hired to transport food who wrongfully sells it along the way, and the material transmitted by Asbagh from Ibn al-Qāsim in the Book of Artisans’ Liability, concerning wheat found short at the miller’s, the owner must pay the fee and hold the artisan liable for the cloth’s value in its finished state when its loss is claimed, whether before or after the work. This is contrary to what is stated in al-Mudawwana.
Section
Artisans are likewise liable for any tearing, breaking, or cutting they cause while performing the work in their shops, even if the owner is sitting with them. An exception is work involving an inherent risk, such as drilling pearls, engraving gemstones, straightening swords, bread being burnt at the baker’s, or cloth being burnt in the dyer’s vat, and similar cases. They are not liable for damage caused in the course of such work unless it is known that the artisan overstepped the proper bounds or carried out the work otherwise than he had undertaken to do; he is then liable. The same applies to a veterinarian who casts an animal to the ground and it dies as a result, or a circumciser who circumcises a boy