and declared its invalidity. If the buyer does not know that he is a mukatab, and then learns of it, he has the right to rescind the sale or take the 'arsh (indemnity for a defect); because the kitaba is a defect, as the buyer cannot exercise authority over him, is not entitled to his earnings, nor to employ him, nor to have intercourse with him if it is a slave woman. Since the cause for the termination of ownership over him has been established, he has the right to rescind the sale on that basis, like the purchaser of a married or defective slave woman. He is therefore given the choice between rescinding the sale and reclaiming the price, or keeping him and taking the 'arsh, which is the proportional difference between his value as a mukatab and his value as an absolute bondman. It is said: "What is his value as a mukatab, and what is his value if he were not a mukatab?" If it is said: His value as a mukatab is one hundred, and his value as a non-mukatab is one hundred and fifty, and the price is one hundred and twenty, then the kitaba has reduced his value by a third; therefore, he recovers a third of his price, which is forty. He does not recover the fifty that the kitaba reduced from his value, based on what has been established in [the rules of] sales.

Section: As for selling the debt that is upon the mukatab from his installments, it is not valid. Abu Hanifa, al-Shafi'i, and Abu Thawr held this view. 'Ata', 'Amr ibn Dinar, and Malik said: It is valid, because the master possesses it in the liability of the mukatab, so its sale is permissible, like his other assets. Our view is that it is an unstable debt, so its sale is not permissible, like the debt of a salam (forward sale). The evidence for its lack of stability is that it is subject to falling away if the mukatab becomes insolvent, and because the master does not have the power to compel the slave to pay it, nor to bind him to acquire it; thus its sale is not permissible, like a promise of a voluntary gift. Also, it is not in [the seller's] possession, and the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, forbade selling what has not been possessed. If he sells it, the sale is void, and the buyer has no right to demand the mukatab to deliver it to him, nor to reclaim the price from the seller if he has already paid it to him. If the mukatab delivers his installments to the buyer, there are two opinions: First, that he becomes free, because the sale includes permission to take possession, so it is like the possession of an agent. Second, that he does not become free, because [the master] did not appoint him as a deputy in taking possession; rather, [the buyer] took possession for himself by virtue of the invalid sale, so the taking of possession was also invalid and he does not become free, unlike his agent, for he appointed him as a deputy.

Section: If the mukatab is one who has a child that follows her in the kitaba, and he sells them both together, it is valid because they are his property, and there is no obstacle to selling them; they remain with the buyer exactly as they were with the seller. If he sells one of them without the other, or sells one to a man and the other to someone else, it is not valid, for two reasons: First, that it is not permissible to separate a mother from her child in a sale, except after the child reaches puberty, according to one of the two narrations. Second, that the child is a follower of his mother, and she is entitled to his earnings and is responsible for his maintenance, so he is in the same category as her owned property; thus it is not permissible to separate him from her. It is possible that this is permissible if he is an adult, because he is an object of sale, and the act of disposal was issued regarding him by someone qualified to do so; he would be the slave of whoever is his slave, as he was before selling him, and [the mother] is entitled to his earnings and the indemnity for any injury inflicted upon him, and she is responsible for his maintenance, and he is emancipated upon her emancipation, just as if he were sold. And Allah knows best.