he becomes liable for any loss that may befall the capital as a result of his overstepping, thereby forfeiting the protection of his trusteeship. Should that very act of trespass generate a profit, the profit is shared between them according to the ratio they originally agreed upon.
It is disliked to restrict the agent to one specific branch of trade, unless the commodity in question is constantly available, in both summer and winter alike. Hence, if the owner stipulates that the agent may purchase nothing but a single, unreliable commodity, the qarad is invalid. Likewise, if the owner stipulates that the agent must not buy a certain specified commodity, the agent is forbidden to purchase it; if he does, the owner may either ratify the purchase or hold the agent liable for the price. Some jurists add that when the owner stipulates both that the agent buy only a particular commodity and that he buy it only from a named individual, yet the agent disregards the clause and acts, he must restore an equivalent amount of the capital once he has traded.
The agent is free to travel unless the owner expressly forbids it in the contract. A qarad may not be tied to a fixed term; if such a condition is inserted, the contract is annulled, and should trading have already begun, it is reduced to an ordinary qarad. Nor may the agent hand the capital out as a new qarad without the owner’s permission, whether the second contract mirrors the first or differs from it. He may, however, dispatch his servant or messenger with the funds to one of his associates to purchase on his behalf.
If someone advances capital under a qarad and then wishes to reclaim it from the agent before the latter has begun to trade with it or set out on a journey, he is entitled to do so, for a qarad is not one of those contracts whose fulfilment is binding; it is a matter of mutual courtesy. In my view, therefore, the owner may withdraw it whenever he sees fit. Once actual trading has commenced, however, neither party may rescind the contract without the consent of the other.
Should the owner die before the agent has begun to trade with the capital or has departed with it, and the heirs or executor wish to take the money back, they may; if they prefer, they may keep the qarad in force—but they have no right thereafter to remove the capital if