birth, regardless of whether it occurred before delivering them to her or after, unless he prevented her from taking possession of them, in which case the decrease is at his risk, and the increase belongs to her, so she keeps the offspring exclusively. If the mothers decrease in value, she is given the choice between taking half of them in their diminished state or taking half of their value at its highest point from the day he gave them as dowry until the day he divorced her. If the husband wishes to take half of the value of the mothers from the wife, he is not permitted to do so. Abu Hanifa said: If they give birth while in the husband's possession, and then he divorces her before consummation, he also reclaims half of the offspring; because the offspring were included in the delivery that was due under the contract, since the right of delivery attached to the mother, so it extended to the offspring, like the right of umm al-walad (the status of a mother of a child). Whatever is included in the required delivery is halved by divorce, just like that which was included in the contract. We argue based on the words of Allah Almighty: {then [give them] half of what you specified}. Nothing was specified here except the mothers, so nothing other than them is halved. Furthermore, the offspring came into existence within her ownership, so it resembles what comes into existence while in her possession. The right of delivery is not comparable to the right of umm al-walad, for the right of umm al-walad extends, whereas the right of delivery does not extend. If they perish in the husband's possession and the wife had demanded them and he refused, he is liable for them like a usurper, otherwise he is not liable for them, because they are secondary to their mother.

Section: The ruling regarding the dowry if it is a slave-girl is the same as the ruling regarding sheep. Thus, if she gives birth, the offspring belongs to her, just like the offspring of sheep, except that he has no right to reclaim half of the original; because this would lead to separation between the mother and her offspring at certain times. Just as it is not permissible to separate her from her offspring at all times, it is not permissible at any time. Therefore, he reclaims half of their value at the time he gave them as dowry, and nothing else.

Section: If the dowry is a barren beast, and it becomes pregnant, the pregnancy is an attached increase. If she offers it to him with its increase, he is obliged to accept it, and this is not considered a decrease; for this reason, it is not a cause for returning the sold item. If it is a slave-girl and she becomes pregnant, she has increased in one respect because of her offspring, and decreased in another; because the pregnancy