Section: The seller is not entitled to refrain from delivering the sold item after receiving the price for the purpose of istibra' (seeking to establish the innocence of the womb/period of abstinence). This is the view of Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i. It was narrated from Malik regarding the 'ugly' slave girl (al-qabiha), but he said regarding the 'beautiful' one (al-jamila): He places her in the hands of a trustworthy person (adl) until she is proven innocent, because suspicion (tuhma) attaches to him regarding her, so he is prevented from keeping her. Our position is that it is a sale of a specific item with no option (khiyar), and he has already received its price, so it is mandatory to deliver it, just like all other sold items. The suspicion they mentioned does not entitle him to usurp power to prevent the buyer from taking possession of what he owns, just like the 'ugly' slave girl. [And because if] he had performed istibra' on her before selling her, then the possibility of pregnancy existing in her is remote and rare; if he did not perform istibra' on her, he has neglected to take precaution for himself. If the buyer demanded a guarantor (kafil) from the seller so that she might not appear to be pregnant, he is not entitled to that, because he neglected to take precaution for himself at the time of the contract, so he is not entitled to a guarantor, just as if he had asked for a guarantor for a deferred price.

755 - Issue; He said: (The sale of a runaway slave is not valid)

The summary of this is that the sale of a runaway slave (abiq) is not valid, whether he knows his location or is ignorant of it. The same applies to things in that category, such as a stray camel, an escaped horse, and their like. This is the view of Malik, al-Shafi'i, Abu Thawr, Ibn al-Mundhir, and the scholars of opinion (ashab al-ra'y). It was narrated from Ibn Umar that he bought a stray camel from one of his sons. From Ibn Sirin: There is no harm in selling a runaway slave if their knowledge [of the situation] is identical. Shurayh narrated the same. Our evidence is what Abu Hurayra narrated, saying: The Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace) forbade [the sale of pebbles (al-hasat) and] the sale of gharar (uncertainty). Reported by Muslim. This is a sale of gharar. Furthermore, it is not possible to deliver it, so its sale is not permissible, like a bird in the air; if it falls into a person's hand, its sale is permissible due to the possibility of delivering it.