In the Mudawwana it is related from Mālik ibn Anas that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to pour watered-down milk onto the ground as a disciplinary measure for its owner. In the narration transmitted by Ibn al-Qāsim, however, Mālik disapproved of that practice and held that the milk should be given in charity instead. Whether a small amount may be donated is a matter over which the scholars hold two opinions.

Ashhab also transmits from Mālik the principle that financial penalties are impermissible; he said,1 “No sin—not even murder—makes another person’s property lawful.” Yet the first view is the one most commonly ascribed to Mālik, and he deemed it preferable to give the adulterated milk away in charity: that both punishes the cheat by depriving him of it and benefits the poor, for they receive it rather than it being spilled.

Mālik was asked, “What about saffron and musk—do you treat them the same way?” He replied, “Anything similar to that: if the person himself adulterated them, they are to be treated like the milk.”

Ibn al-Qāsim commented, “This applies when the adulteration is slight; but if it is extensive, I do not approve of giving it away. Its owner deserves to be punished, for large sums of wealth would be lost”—that is, through donating a large quantity in charity.

Some of the senior scholars said, “According to Mālik’s school it makes no difference whether the amount is small or great; he treated saffron, milk, and musk alike, in little or in much.”

Ibn al-Qāsim disagreed: he allowed only a small quantity to be given in charity, and only when the owner himself had done the adulterating. As for someone in whose possession adulterated goods are found—he did not adulterate them but bought them, received them as a gift, or inherited them—there is no disagreement that none of it is to be donated.

Among those who issued fatwas permitting the destruction of adulterated garments was Ibn al-Qaṭṭān. About cloaks that were poorly woven he said, “They should be burned.” Ibn ʿAtāb, on the other hand, ruled that they be given in charity: “Cut them into rags and distribute them to the poor once those who wear them have been warned and still refuse to desist.” He likewise ruled that adulterated bread be given to the needy. Ibn al-Qaṭṭān objected, saying, “It is not lawful to dispose of a Muslim’s property without his consent.”