marriage without a guardian, and in all other invalid marriages. The basis for the first view is what Imam Ahmad narrated, with his chain of narration from Khilas, that a servant of Abu Musa married a female slave of Tijat al-Taymi without the permission of Abu Musa. He wrote to Uthman [ibn Affan] about this, and Uthman wrote back to him: "Separate them, and take for her two-fifths of her dower." Her dower was five camels. Furthermore, because the dower is one of the two requirements of intercourse, it is permissible for the slave to fall short in it compared to the free man, just as in the case of the legal penalty (hadd), or because it is one of the two compensations in a marriage, so the slave may fall short, just as in the number of wives.

Fourth Section: The amount that is obligatory is two-fifths of the specified dower, because the case reverted to the story of Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, and the apparent meaning of it is that he obligated two-fifths of the specified amount, which is why he said: "Her dower was five camels." And because if he were to consider the dower of the like (mahr al-mithl), he would have obligated the entire amount, like all other values of destroyed assets, and he would have obligated the value, which is currency rather than camels. It is possible that what is obligatory is two-fifths of the dower of the like, because it is compensation for an injury, so the reference point for it is the value of the subject, like all other indemnities for injuries (urush al-jinayat), and the value of the subject is the dower of the like.

Fifth Section: If the obligation is more than the value of the slave, the master is not liable for the excess, because the obligation upon him is only what corresponds to the value of the slave; evidenced by the fact that if he surrendered the slave, he would not be liable for anything. Thus, if he pays