General Chapter on Making Judgement and Shying Away from it

7 Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Sa'id that Abu'd-Darda' wrote to Salman al-Farsi, " Come immediately to the Holy Land." Salman wrote back to him, " Land does not make anyone holy. A man's deeds make him holy. I have heard that you were put up as a doctor to treat and cure people. If you are innocent, then may you have delight! If you are a quack, then beware lest you kill a man and enter the Fire! " When Abu'd-Darda' judged between two men, and they turned from him to go, he would look at them and say, " Come back to me, and tell me your story again. A quack, by Allah! "

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, " If someone makes use of a slave without the permission of its master in anything involving danger to his person, whose equivalent has a fee, he is liable for what befalls the slave if anything befalls him. If the slave is safe and his master asks for his wage for what he has done, that is the master's right. This is what is done in our community."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say about a slave who is part free and part enslaved, " His property is suspended in his hand and he cannot begin anything with it. He eats from it and clothes himself in an approved fashion. If he dies, his property belongs to the one to whom he is enslaved."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, " The way of doing things in our community is that a parent can take his child to account for what he spends on him from the day the child has property, cash or goods if the parent so desires."

8 Malik related to me from 'Umar ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Dalaf al-Muzani from his father that a man from the Juhayna tribe used to buy camels before people set out for the Hajj and sell them at a higher price. Then he travelled quickly and used to arrive in Makka before the others who set out for Hajj. He went bankrupt and his situation was put before 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, who said, " O People! Al-Usayfi', al-Usayfi' of the Juhayna, was satisfied with his deen and his trust because it was said of him that he arrived before the others on Hajj. He used to incur debts which he was not careful to repay, so all of his property has been eaten up by it. Whoever has a debt against him, let him come to us tomorow and we will divide his property between his creditors. Beware of debts! Their beginning is a worry and their end is destitution! "

Damages and Injuries Caused by Slaves

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, " The sunna with us about crimes committed by slaves is that the hand is not cut off for any harm that a slave causes a man, or something he pilfers, or something guarded which he steals, or hanging dates he cuts down or ruins or steals. Such things are counted against the slave's person and do not exceed the price of the slave whether it is little or much. If his master wishes to give the value of what the slave has taken or ruined, or pay the blood-price for the injury he has caused, he pays it and keeps his slave. If he wishes to surrender him, he surrenders him, and none of that is against him. The master has the option in that."

What is Permitted of Gifts

9 Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab that 'Uthman ibn 'Affan said, " If someone gives something to his small child who is not old enough to look after it himself, and in order that his gift might be permitted he makes the gift public and has it witnessed, the gift is permitted, even if the father keeps charge of it."

Malik said, " What is done in our community is that if a man gives his small child some gold or silver and then dies whilst it is in his own keeping, the child has none of it unless the father has set it aside in coin or placed it with a man to keep for the son. If he has done that, it is permitted for the son."

38 Setting Free and Wala'

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