rent depend upon the purchaser’s benefiting from the sale, or not? Can the purchaser recover from the seller the rent legally payable for the property during the period it remained in his possession, or the purchase price he paid?

He replied:

If the purchaser knew that the property had been wrongfully seized, he is a wrongdoer and is liable for its rental value, whether he benefited from it or not. If he did not know, ultimate liability rests with the wrongdoing seller. If the property is taken from the purchaser’s possession, he may demand repayment of the price received by the seller. If rent is collected from him when he had been deceived, he may recover it from the seller who deceived him. And Allah knows best.

He was asked:

What of someone who says that “sīmiyā” and “alchemy” are two sciences belonging to the knowledge of the prophets and the allies of Allah? Some of them transmit concerning alchemy—that is, silver, al-khadmā or al-khidma—the saying, “Whoever asfāhā eats what is lawful,” and similar sayings?

He replied:

Whoever says that “sīmiyā and alchemy” belong to the knowledge of the prophets and the allies of Allah is a liar and a fabricator. No prophet is known to have spoken about either of them, nor any ally of Allah recognized as such by the Muslim community. As for sīmiyā, it is a form of magic:

“The magician will never succeed, wherever he may go.”