Legal Analysis

Besides drawing on general ethical and social considerations, the method that Ja'far al-Sadiq and his father used in their legal interpretation in cases in which neither a specific nor a generalizable relevant text was available was to define the applicable rules on the basis of general patterns in the law.

هشام بن سالم قال: قلت لأبي عبد الله: إن الناس يملمونا ويردون علنا قولنا أئه لا يصل على الطفل لأنه لم يصل، فيقولون: لا يصل إلا على من صل؟ فنقول: نعم! فيقولون: أريتم لو أن رجال نصرايا أو يهودا أسلم بم مات من ساعته فما الجواب فيته؟ فقال: قولوا لهم: أريتم لوأن هذا اتذي أسلم الساعة بم افهرى على إنشان ماكان يجب عله في فرينه؟ فانهم سيقولون يجب عله الحد٠ فإذا قالوا هذا قيل لهم: فلوأن هذا الصى اذي لم يصل افزى على إضان هل كان يجب عله الحد؟ فإنهم سيقولون لا! فيقال لهم: صدقتم! إتكا يجب أن يصلى على من وجبت عله الصلاة والحدود، ولا بصل على من لم تجب عله الصلاة والحدود.^[860]

[Hisham b.

عمربن يزيد قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن رجل أرد أن يعتق مملوكا ل، وقدكان مولاه بتأخذ منه ضريبة فرضها عله في كل سنة فرص بذلك المولى ورص بذلك المملوك، فأصاب المملوك في تجاره مالاسوى ماكان يعطى مولاه من الضريبة.

٠ ٠ ه

إلى سيبده ما كان فرنى عله فما اكتسب بعد الريضة فهو للمملوك. بم قال أبو عبد الله: أليس قد فرضى الله عر وجل على العباد فرئقش إذا أدوها إله لم يسألهم عما سواها؟ قلت، ل: فما تزى للمملوك أن يتصدق متئا اكتسب ويعتق، بعد الغريضة الي كان يوديها إلى سيبده؟ قال: نعم! واجب ذلك ل. قته: فإن أعتق مملوؤا مما اكتسب سوى الغريضة، لمن كون ولاء المعتنق؟ قال: بتذهب فيتواليإلى من أحبل، فإذا ضئتن جريرته وعقله كان مولاه وورثه.

['Umar b. Yazid:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about a man who wanted to manumit his slave, and he imposed on the slave an annual payment, which both the master and the slave agreed. The slave earned money in trade over and above what he would give to his master as regu­lar payment. He [Ja'far al-Sadiq] said, “If he gives his master what he is required to give, then anything he earns in addition to it belongs to the slave.” Then Abu 'Abd Allah said, “Did not God, the Mighty and Majestic, impose obligations upon His servants, [such] that if they per­formed them, He would not ask anything else of them?” I said to him, “What is your position on the slave's donating from what he earns and manumitting [a slave], after paying what he owes to his master?” He said, “Yes! That takes legal effect.” I said, “If he manumits a slave from [the money] he earns in addition to what he owes, to whom does the clientage of the freed slave belong?” He said, “He can become the cli­ent of whomever he prefers.

(may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) say, ‘Client­ship goes to whoever manumits'? He said, “This is a sa’iba [that is, a freed slave who no longer has any bond with the former master],^[863] who cannot be a client of a slave like him.” I said, “What if the slave who manumits him assumes liability for his offenses and actions? Does he become obligated to fulfill it, and does he become his patron and inherit from him?” He said, “That is not permissible, and a slave cannot inherit from a free person.”

عبد الرجن ين الحجاج قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: الرجل نبيئي يطلب المتاع فأقاوله على الرخ بم أششه فأيعه منه؟ فقال أليس إن شاء أخذ وإن شاء تزك؟ قبن: بلى' قال: لا بأس به٠ قبى: فإن من عندنا يفسده! قال: ولغ[؟ قبى: باع ما ليس ءذده٠ قال: فما يقول ي التنغم قد باع صاحبه ما ليس عنده؟ قبى: بلى! قال: فإثما نصلح من أجل أنهم يسنمونه سما«إن أبي كان يقول: لابأس ييع كل متاع كنت تجده ي الوقت اندي بعته فيه.^[864]

[‘Abd al-Rahman b.

عبد الرحمن ين الحجاج قال: سألت أبا عبد هللا عن اعلينة^[865] فقلت: باي الرجل فيقول: اشغر المتاع وارخ فيه كذا وكذا، فأرضيه على الثيء من الرخ فناراخى به بم ينطلق، فأشازى المتاع من أجهل لولا مكانه لم أرده، بم آتبه به فأبيعه؟ قال: ما أرى بهذا باسا. لو هكل منك المتاع قبل أن نبيعه إياه كان من ماكل، وهو علك بالحيار: إن شاء اشاراه منك بعد ما تأق به وإن شاء رده، فكت أرى به بأسا.^[866]

['Abd al-Rahman b. alHajjaj:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about [the legal status of] brokerage. I said, “A man comes to me and says, ‘Buy the goods and make a profit of such-and-such on them.' I agree to the profit, we conclude an agreement, and he leaves. I then buy for his sake the goods, which I would not want were it not for him, and I take them to him and sell them.” He said, “I do not think there is anything wrong with this. If the goods perished before you sold them to him, [the loss] would come out of your wealth. He has a choice: If he wishes he can buy them from you after you present them or if he wishes he can refuse them. So I do not think there is anything wrong with this.”

خال ين نحيح قال: قلت لأق عبد هللا: الرجل يجيئي فيقول اشارهذا الثوب وأربحك كذا وكذا؟ فقال أليس إن شاء أخذه وإن شاء ترك؟ قفئ: بلى! قال: لا بأس به. إهنا بحلل الكلام وبحرم الكلام.^[867]

[Khalid b. Nah:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “A man comes to me and says, ‘Buy this garment and I will give you a profit [in the amount of] such-and-such.' He said, “Is it not the case that he can take it or leave it, as he wishes?” I said, “Yes!” He said, “There is nothing wrong with that. It is the statement [of specific conditions made in the contract] that makes things lawful or unlawful.”

إسحاق بن عمار قال: قلت لأق عبد هللا: كون للرجل عندي الدرهم الوح فيلقاق فيقول: كيف سعر الوضح ايوم؟ فأقول هل: كذا وكذا. فيقول لي: حولها إلى دنانير بهذا السعر وأنبتها لي عندك. فما تزى لي هذا؟ فقال لي: إذا كنت قد استقصيت ل السعريومئذ فلابأس بذلك. فقلن: إى لم أوازنه ولم أناقده. إ تماكان كلام بيي وينه. فقال: أليس الدراهم من عندك والدنانير من عندك؟ قلن: بلى١٠ قال: فلا بأس بذلك.^[868]

[Ishaq b. 'Ammar:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “A man had deposited some authentic dirhams with me. He then met me and asked, ‘What is the price of authentic [dirhams] today?' I said to him, ‘Such-and-such.’ He then instructed me, ‘Exchange them for dinars at this price, and write it down in your books for me.' What is your position on this?” He said to me, “If you covered all the details of the price for him on that day, there is nothing wrong with that.” I said, “I did not weigh or con­vert [the dirhams into dinars, physically]for him. It was merely a con­versation between the two of us.” He answered, “Are not the dirhams and the dinars coming from you?” I said, “Yes!” He said, “Then there is nothing wrong with that.”

الحلي قال: قلن لأى عبد هللا: أتقتبل الأرض بالثلت أوالرع فأقئبلها بالنصف؟ قال: لا بأس به. قلن: فأتقئبلها بألف درهم فأقئبلها بألض؟ قال: لا يجوز. قلن: كيف جاز الأول ولم يجزالثاني؟ قال: لأن هذا مضمون وذلك غيرمضمون.^[869]

['Ubayd Allah al-Halabi:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “I have a contract for tax farming^[870] [with the government] on a piece of land in exchange for the payment of a third or a fourth [of its produce]; can I subcon­tract it to someone else in exchange for the payment of half [of its pro­duce]?” He said, “There is nothing wrong with that.” I said, “[Suppose] I contract it for one thousand dirhams; can I subcontract it [to some­one else] for two thousand?” He said, “That is not permissible.” I said, “How is the first permissible but not the second?” He said, “Because [the amount] is fixed and guaranteed in this [latter] case, but not in that [former] case.”^[871]

الحسن بن صالح قال: سألام جعفرين محتد عن زجل طلق امرأته وهوغائب في بلدة أخرى وأشهد على طلاقها زجلين، بم إنه رجعها قبل انقضاء العدة ولم يشهد على الرجعة، بم إهل قدم عيها بعد انقضاء العدة وقد تزوجت رجلا فأرسل إيها أى قد كتت رجعتك. قال: لاسبيل ل عيها، لأئه قد أقربالطلاق وادى الرجعة بغيربينة فلا سبيل ل عيها.^[872]

[Al-Hasan b. Salih:] I asked Ja'far b. Muhammad about a man who divorced his wife while he was away in another town, and two men bore witness to his divorce. He then revoked [the divorce] before the conclusion of the waiting period, but he did not have witnesses attest to that. He then went to her after the conclusion of the waiting period and [found that] she had married another man, so he sent a message to her that he had revoked the divorce. He said, “He has no access to her, because he acknowledged the divorce and [then] claimed to have revoked it without proof, so now he has no access to her.”

مسعدة ين صدقة قال: سمعت جعفر بن محتد وسئل: ما بال الزاني لا تستيه كافرا وتارك الصلاة قد تستيه كافرا؟ وما الحجة في ذلك؟ فقال: لأن الزاني وما أشبهه إثما يفعل ذلك لمكان الشهوة فإنها تغلبه، وتارك الصلاة لايهكها إلا استخفاقا بها. وإذا وقع الاستخفافى وقع الكفر.^[873]

[Mas'ada b. Sadaqa:] I heard Ja'far b. Muhammad being asked “Why do you not call the fornicator a disbeliever, when you call someone who abandons prayer a disbeliever? What is the argument for that?” He said, “Because the fornicator, or a person like him, acts out of lust that overtakes him. The one who abandons prayer does so only because he belittles it, and when belittling occurs, so does disbelief.”

حكم ين حكيم الصيرفي قال: قنت لأبي عبد الله: ما تقول في الكلب يصيد الصيد فيقتله [ويأكل منه]؟ قال: لا بأس بأكله. قته: فإنهم يقولون إله إذا قتله وأكل منه فإثما أمسك على نفسه فلا تأكهل؟ فقال: كل! أو ليس قد جامعوكم على أن قتله ذكاته؟ قلب: بلى! قال: فما يقولون في شاة ذبحها رجل، أذكاها؟ قلب: نعم! قال: فان الشبع جاء بعد ما دكاها فأكل منها بعصها، أيؤكل البقجة؟ قب : نعم! قال: فإذا أجابوك إلى هذا فعل لهم: كيف تقولون: إذا ذك ذلك وأكل منه لم تأكاوا، وإذا ذكاها هذا وأكل أكاتم؟ 289

[Hakam b. Hakim al-Sayrafi:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “What is your opinion regarding [the legality of eating game caught by] a dog that hunts game and kills it but then eats from it?" He said, “There is noth­ing wrong with eating it." I said, “These people [that is, the jurists among the Sunni majority] say that if it kills it and eats from it then it has reserved it for itself, so you should not eat it." He said, “Eat! Do they not agree with you that if [the dog] kills the game, it [the game] has been legally slaughtered?" I said, “Yes!" He said, “What do they say about a man who butchers a sheep; has he slaughtered it ritually?" I said, “Yes!" He said, “If a predator comes after it was slaughtered and eats some of it, can the rest be eaten?" I said, “Yes." He said, “If they give you this answer, say to them, ‘How can you say that if [the dog] slaughters and [then] eats from it you should not eat it, but if [the man] slaughters it and [the predator] eats from it you can eat it?'"

إسحاق ين عمار قال: قلت لأبي عبد هللا: رجل طافى بالكعبة بم خرج فطافى بين الصفا والمروة، فبينما هو يطوفى إذ ذكرأده قد تزك من طوافه باييت؟ قال: يزجع إلى اييت فيتم طوافه بم يزجع إلى الصفا والمروة فيتم ما بفى. قلت: فائه بدأ بالصقا والمروة قبل أن يدأ باييت؟ فقال: يأني اييت فيطوفى به، بم يستأنف طوافه بين الصفا والمروة. قات: فما الغرق بين هذين؟ قال: لأن هذا قد دخل ئ شيء من الطوافى وهذا لم يدخل ئ شيء منه.^{[874] [875]}

[Ishaq b. 'Ammar:] I said to Abu 'Abd Allah, “A man circumambulates the Ka'ba and then goes to walk the distance between Safa and Marwa. In the midst of this, he remembers that he did not finish his circum- ambulation of the House [of God, the Ka'ba]." He said, “He must return to the House and complete his circumambulation, and then go back to Safa and Marwa and complete what is left." I said, “What if he began with Safa and Marwa before the House?" He said, “He is then to go to the House and circumambulate it, then start his walk between Safa and Marwa anew." I said, “What is the difference between the two?" He said, “It is that [in the first case] he did some of the circumambulation but in the other he did not.”

رفاعة ين موسى قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن المتمتع لايجد الهدي، فقال: يصوم قبل التروية يوم ولوم التروية ولوم عرفة- قلت: فإته قدم يوم التروية [وهو لا يغبي أن يصوم بمى أيام التصق؟ قال: فإذا رجع إلى مكة صام. قت،: فإن أعجله أصحابه وأبوا أن يقيموا بمكة؟] قال: يصوم يوم الحصبة وبعده يومين. قتا: وما الحصبة؟ قال: يوم نفره. قته: يصوم وهو مسافر؟ قال: نعم! أليس هويوم عرفة مسافرا؟ ا²⁹

[Rifa'a b. Musa:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about a pilgrim who is per­forming hajj tamattu1 and cannot find an animal to sacrifice. He said, “He should fast the day before the Day of Tarwiya [the Day of Quench­ing the Thirst, the eighth day of Dhu al-Hijja, when the pilgrims leave Mecca for 'Arafat], the Day of Tarwiya, and the Day of 'Arafa [the ninth day of Dhu al-Hijja]." I said, “What if he arrived on the Day of Tarwiya and he is not supposed to fast in Mina during the days of tashriq [the eleventh through thirteenth days of Dhu al-Hijja]?" He said, “Then he is to fast when he returns to Mecca." I said, “What if his companions rush him and refuse to stay in Mecca?" He said, “He is then to fast the Day of Hasba [the end of the pilgrimage when the pilgrims leave Mina] and two days after it." I said, “What is the Day of Hasba?" He said, “The day of his departure." I said, “He is to fast while traveling?" He said, “Yes! Is he not a traveler on the Day of 'Arafa?"

منصور ين حازم قال: سألت أبا عبد الله عن المضطر إلى الميتة وهو يجد الصيد، فقال: الصيدا قلت: إدن لله قد أحل الميتة إذا اضطرإيها ولم ;يجل ل الصيد؟ قال: تأكل من ماكل أحج، إليك أو ميتة؟ قلت: من مالى! قال: هو من ماكل، لأن علك الفدية من ماكل.^{[876] [877]}

[Mansur b. Hazim:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about someone [in the state of pilgrim sanctity] who is desperate to the point that he can legally eat carrion, but he can also find game. [Which one should he eat?] He said, “He should eat the game." I said, “God permitted him the carrion if he is in need, but He did not permit game for him." He said, “Would you prefer to eat from your wealth or carrion?" I said, “From my wealth." He said, “It [the game] is from your wealth because you are required to pay compensation for it [as expiation]."

إسحاق ين ختارقال: سألته عن الرجل يموت فيوص يججة فؤعطي رجل درهم يحلج بها عنه فيموت قبل أن يجلج ثم" أعني الدراهم غيره، فقال: إن مات ي الطرق أوبمكة قبل أن يقفى مناسكه فإئه تجزى عن الأول« قلطا: فإن ابئلى بئشء ممسد عله حجه حى صيرعليه الحلج من قابل، أتجزى عن الأؤل؟ قال: نعم؛ قلت: لأن الأجيرضامن للحلج؟ قال: نعم.'^[878]

[Ishaq b. 'Ammar:] I asked him about a man who dies and entrusts the performance of a hajj [on his behalf to an agent], and a man is accord­ingly given money to perform the hajj on his behalf but dies before doing so, after which the money is given to someone else. He said, “If he dies during the journey or in Mecca before performing the hajj rites, the obligation of the first man has been satisfied.” I said, 'What if he is afflicted with something that invalidates his hajj such that he would have to perform hajj anew the following year; would that suf­fice for the first [man]?” He said, “Yes!” I said, “Because the hired agent is a guarantor for the hajj?” He said, “Yes!”^[879]

داود ين الحصين عن أبي عبد الله قال: سألنه عن شهادة النساء ي النكاح بلا رجل معهن إذاكانت المراة منكدة«قال: لابأس به«ثم قال لي: مايقول ي ذلك فقهاوكم؟ قلت: يقولون: لايجوزإلاشهادة رجلين دلين« فقال: إن لله أمر ي الطلاق بشهادة رجلين عدلين فأجازوا الطلاق بلا شاهد واحد، والنكاح لم يء عن الله فيه عزبمة فسن رسول لله - صلى لله عيه وآل وسلم — ي ذلك الشاهدين تأدبا ونظرا لئلا ينكرالول والميرث، وقد ثبت عقدة النكاح واستحل الفرج بلاأن دثهد. وكان أمير المؤمنين ^— عييه السلام ^— يجير شهادة أمرتين ي النكاح عند الإنكار ولا يجيز ي الطلاق إلا شاهدين عدلين« قيف: فإلى ذكر لله نعالى وقول: “إرجل وامرأئان^؟ قال: ذلك ي الاقن، إذا لم ;كن رجلان فرجل وامرأتان، أورجل واحدوقبين المدي إذا لم تكن امرأتان« قفى بذلك رسول لله — صلى لله عيه وآل وسلم — وأميرالمؤمنين — عيه السلام — بعده عندكم«^[880]

[Dawud b. al-Husayn:] I asked Abu 'Abd Allah about the [admissi­bility of] women's testimony in the absence of men, with respect to

marriage if the woman denies [marriage]. He said, “There is nothing wrong with it.” Then he asked me, 'What do the jurists [among the Sunni majority] in your region say about this?” I said, “They [the Sunni jurists] say that only the testimony of two righteous men is permit­ted.” He said, “Regarding divorce, God ordered that two righteous men bear witness^[881] and they [the jurists] permit divorce without a single witness. But for marriage, God did not impose any such obligation, so the Messenger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) ordered [the presence of] two witnesses as a matter of dis­cipline and in consideration for the child and for inheritance so that neither can be disavowed. But [in principle] the marriage contract is established and intercourse becomes lawful without witnesses. The Commander of the Faithful ('Ali) would allow the testimony of two women for marriage in the case of a denial, but for divorce, two righ­teous [male] witnesses are required.” I said, “Did God not mention: ‘a man and two women'?”^[882] He said, “That is with respect to loans; if there are not two men, then a man and two women. If there are not two women, then one man and an oath by the claimant. The Messen­ger of God (may God's prayer and peace be upon him and his Family) judged accordingly, and so did the Commander of the Faithful ('Ali) after the Prophet [when he was] among you [in Iraq].”^[883]

VI.