1069- Issue: He said: (And if he commanded him to place it in a house, and he took it out of the house due to the onset of a fire, a flood, or something from which destruction is the most likely outcome, there is no liability upon him).

The sum of this is that if the owner of the deposit orders the trustee to keep it in a specific place, and he keeps it there without fearing for it, he is not liable, without any disagreement, because he is complying with his order and is not negligent regarding his wealth. If he fears a flood for it, or 'tawan'—meaning destruction—and removes it from there to a secure place (hirz), and it is destroyed, he is not liable, also without any disagreement; for moving it in this situation is deemed preservation of it, and he is commanded to preserve it. If he leaves it despite the fear and it is destroyed, he is liable, whether it was destroyed by the feared event or by something else, because he was negligent in preserving it; for its preservation is its movement, and leaving it is a waste of it. If he did not fear for it but moved it from the secure place to one less secure, he is liable, because he contradicted the commanded preservation. If he moved it to one less secure while fearing for it, we look: if it was possible to secure it in a place like the first or better, he is liable due to his negligence; if it was not possible to secure it except in a place less secure, he is not liable, because securing it there is more protective than leaving it, and it is not within his capacity to do otherwise. If he moved it to a similar secure place without an excuse, the Qadi said: he is not liable. This is the school of al-Shafi'i, because his restriction to this secure place implies what is similar to it, like one who rents land to plant wheat; he may plant it or plant something similar in terms of damage. It is possible that the words of al-Khiraqi imply the necessity of liability, because a command for a thing requires its specification, so one should not deviate from it except with evidence. If he moved it to a more secure place, its ruling is the ruling of what he moves to a similar place. If he forbade him from moving it from that place, the ruling is the same as if he had ordered him to leave it there without forbidding him from removing it.