He replied:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

This question depends, first of all, on the dismissal of an agent: does his dismissal take effect before he receives notice of it? Scholars hold two well-known views on this.

The first is that his dismissal does not take effect until he learns of it. This is the position of Abū Hanīfah and of Ahmad according to one of the two reports from him, as well as a view held by al-Shāfiʿī and one of the two positions in Mālik’s school—indeed, the stronger of the two. According to this view, the agent’s transactions before learning of his dismissal are valid and legally effective. Proof that he was dismissed before the transaction does not undermine a transaction he conducted before learning of that dismissal. Thus, the sale and the endowment, if undertaken in accordance with Islamic law, are valid; neither they nor the judge’s ruling affirming them are invalidated.

The second view is that his dismissal takes effect before he learns of it. This is the well-known position in al-Shāfiʿī’s school, Ahmad’s position according to one of the two reports from him, and Mālik’s position according to one of the two reports from him.

According to this view, the principal’s mere assertion, after the transaction, that he had dismissed the agent is not accepted. If he produces evidence of this in another town and a judge rules on that basis, this constitutes a judgment against an absent party. Such a judgment, if deemed valid, is valid with everyone retaining the right to present their evidence and arguments. The party against whom judgment was given may challenge the judgment and the testimony on any admissible grounds, whether by challenging the witnesses, the judgment, or otherwise. An example would be that the judge who ruled on the dismissal does not consider dismissal effective before the agent learns of it. Nor is he obliged to accept testimony attesting to the dismissal from witnesses who are flagrantly sinful or subject to a suspicion that renders their testimony inadmissible.

Furthermore, if the judge who ruled that the sale and endowment were valid holds that an agent’s dismissal does not take effect before he learns of it, and had been informed of this, then his judgment is legally effective, and it is not permissible to