for her children, provided she is firm-handed, keeps them safe and adequately maintained, and her sound judgment in their favour is evident. If she proves unable to do so, the judge assumes supervision and takes every precaution on behalf of the orphans.

The testimony of two executors that a third person shares the executorship with them is admissible in court.

If the estate contains slaves, livestock, or riding beasts, the executor should ordinarily sell the slaves. There is no harm, however, in retaining any servant who is known to be honest and sufficient for household needs, or a female slave who is fit to nurse and care for the children.

As for breeding animals, if the benefit lies in keeping them because their offspring yield a better return in that locality and at that time, the executor should keep them for the orphans; otherwise he should sell them and replace them with whatever is more advantageous.

With regard to flocks—camels, cattle, and sheep—if the deceased was a Bedouin and the orphans would clearly profit by keeping the animals, they are kept; if not, they are sold and the proceeds invested for them.

Urban real estate and orchards are not to be sold from an orphan’s property except out of necessity: when collapse is feared, when they bring no return, or when a wealthy neighbour or an official offers a plainly higher price. In that case they may be sold on condition that the executor buys with the proceeds another property that is manifestly more beneficial to the orphans.

If the orphan owns nothing for his upkeep but a single house, that house is sold to cover his living expenses. Yet if the estate generates enough income to maintain the house and meet his needs until it is expected to support him on its own, then that course should be followed.

The executor may trade with the orphan’s capital and turn over the profit to the orphan, but he must not trade with it for his own account and take the gain—even if he guarantees the principal—unless a qualified judge loans the money to him. He may, however, place the funds in a muḍāraba (profit-sharing partnership) with a trustworthy merchant; in the event of losses caused by unavoidable calamity, he bears no liability. Should he entrust it to a merchant he knows to be untrustworthy, he is liable for whatever is lost.

The executor may not purchase anything from the orphan’s property, raise the bid on it, or instruct someone else to do so.