“there should be neither harm nor reciprocating harm.” Whenever a commodity brings no benefit once it is parceled out, dividing it becomes an act of harm. Some of Mālik’s companions therefore held that if the partner who owns the larger share calls for partition, his request need not be granted when the partner whose share would yield him no benefit objects; but if the partner with the smaller share demands partition, division is permissible.

As for property that cannot be physically split—such as a riding beast, a slave, or a ship—the two partners are compelled either to fix a value for buy-out (taqāwum) or to sell it. The partner who wishes to keep it has priority, provided he takes it for the highest price that public bidding could fetch.

Stands of fruit-bearing trees are divided according to their appraised value, while the fruit itself is left until it is picked; once harvested, it is apportioned by measure, each variety separately, and no other method is lawful. One may not assign a larger measure of inferior fruit against a smaller measure of superior fruit, for that would amount to a sale.

No fruit may be divided while still on the trees except dates and grapes, because their yield can be estimated (kharṣ), and the manner of estimating them is well known. This is the essence of Mālik’s view and the substance of his school, and it is the position I espouse.

Nevertheless, it has been reported from him and from a number of his disciples that if a reliable method of estimation exists for other fruits, and the owners need to divide them while having differing purposes—some wishing to consume them fresh, others to dry them as raisins, others to sell—then partition among them is permissible on the basis of estimation and careful approximation. If their purposes do not differ, the fruit may only be divided by measure or by weight once it is on the ground.

The first opinion is the sounder in light of fundamental legal principles. They are unanimously agreed that vegetables may not be divided, because they are liable to blight, which would ultimately—