each of them said to the other: "Whatever you buy of anything, it is between us." He said: It is permissible. And he liked it. Also, because the partner and the mudarib (entrepreneur in mudarabah) are agents to buy whatever they wish. Therefore, according to this, he has no right to buy except at the market price or less, and he may not buy what the principal cannot afford the price of, nor what he does not see as being in his interest to purchase. If he says: "Sell all my property, and collect all my debts," it is valid, because he may know his property and debts. If he says: "Sell whatever you wish of my property, and collect whatever you wish of my debts," it is permissible; because if agency is permissible for the whole, then it is more appropriate for some of it. If he says: "Collect all my debts, and what will accrue in the future," it is valid. The associates of al-Shafi'i said: If he says: "Sell whatever you wish of my property," it is not permissible. But if he says: "Of my slaves," it is permissible, because it is limited by genus. Our evidence is that whatever agency is permitted for the entirety of, is permitted for a part of, like his slaves (32). If he says: "Buy for me a Turkish slave, or a Harawi garment," it is valid. If he says: "Buy for me a slave," or says "a garment," without mentioning its genus, it is also valid. Abu al-Khattab said: It is not valid, and this is the school of al-Shafi'i, because it is unknown. Our evidence is that it is an agency for the purchase of a slave, so mentioning its type is not stipulated, like qirad (profit-sharing). Specifying the amount of the price is not stipulated, as mentioned by the Qadi. Abu al-Khattab said: It is not valid until the amount of the price is mentioned, which is one of the two positions of the associates of al-Shafi'i, because slaves differ within the same genus and are only distinguished by price. Our evidence is that if he mentions a type, he has permitted its highest price, so the uncertainty (gharar) decreases, and because stipulating the price is harmful, as he may not find anything for the amount of that price. Whoever considers mentioning the price necessary, permits that he specifies to him the maximum and minimum price.

Section: If he appoints two agents for an action and gives each of them the individual authority to act, he may do so, because he has been permitted to do it (33). If he does not grant him that, neither of them may act individually, because he did not permit him to do so, and only what his principal has permitted is permissible for him. Abu al-Shafi'i and the scholars of opinion (ashab al-ra'y) held this view. If he appoints both of them to safeguard his property, they must safeguard it together in a place belonging to them, because his statement "Do such-and-such" requires their joint action, which is something possible, so it is attached to both of them.