to purchase it on his behalf; nor may the executor ride the orphan’s animal except when that plainly serves the orphan’s estate and only if the executor has no mount of his own. He must not eat the fruit of the orphan’s trees or drink the milk of his sheep save for a trifling amount, or in a place where the produce has no market value—unless he is tending the animals or otherwise bringing benefit through them. He should not mix his own living expenses with the orphan’s unless his means exceed the orphan’s, and even then he must act with the utmost care, hoping thereby to be spared blame; if he succeeds, he shall earn a great reward, and Allah knows well the corrupter from the reformer.
If the orphan is living under the executor’s roof, the executor’s word regarding what he has spent on the orphan is accepted so long as the amount is customary. Should he exceed what is customary, the excess is disallowed: only the usual amount is charged to the orphan’s account, and the executor must repay the rest, for in that he is deemed a transgressor.
When the orphan is in the care of a nurse—his mother or someone else—the executor’s claim for any expenditure is not accepted without proof, unless the amount is so small that its truth is beyond doubt. It is permissible to hire, from the orphan’s own funds, someone to nurse and look after him if no one else is available. The same applies if the orphan is with the executor and the latter travels for ḥajj or elsewhere: during his absence the executor may make such arrangements. Should he take the orphan with him to the ḥajj and the orphan has reached puberty, the orphan’s estate is to be charged the normal expenses for someone of his status.
When the orphan’s maturity becomes apparent, together with his uprightness in religion and competence in managing his livelihood, the executor must hand over his property—whether or not a judge is present—but is only cleared of liability by securing witnesses when he transfers the assets after the lifting of guardianship.
As for a virgin who has reached puberty, guardianship is not removed from her merely because she has come of age, whether her righteousness in religion and sound judgment in worldly matters have become evident or not, until—