The pur chafe
o f a package
o f cloth is
null, i f it contain
more or
lefs than the
quantity of
pieces agreed
for,
urilefs the
feller previ-
oufly fpecify
the price of
each particular
piece.
A fale is null
in totOy i f the
defcription of
the goods be
at all fallacious.
for thefe are abftrad ideas of the mind and not undefined relatives ';
and although, of confequence, an uncertainty exi-ft with refpect to
them alfo, yet fuch uncertainty cannot occafion a contention, finee
the pofleflbr of ten (hates of the houfe may either enjoy them indefinitely,
or may receive his {hare according to the made prefcribed in.
the divifion of joint property.
If a perfon purchafe a package containing cloth, on condition
o f there being ten pieces in it, and it afterwards appear that there
are nine or eleven pieces in it, the fale is invalid, becaufe of the uncertainty,
with regard to the price, in the one cafe, and to the mer-
chandife in the other; far in cafe of there being nine pieces, as the
price of the piece wanting is unknown, that of the remaining nine is
o f confequence alfo unknown; and where, on the other hand, there
is one too many, it is unknown which are the fpecific ten that ought
to be delivered. If, however, the feller ftiould explain the price of
■ each piece o f cloth, and there be too few , the fale is valid; but the
purchafer has the option of undoing it if he pleafe; whereas,
if there be too many, it is invalid, becaufe o f the uncertainty with
refpect to the goods, as it would be impoffible to afcertain the
particular ten that are included in the fale.— Some have faid that in
cafe of deficiency alfo the fale is invalid, according to Haneefa.
But this is unfounded.
I f a perfon fell two pieces o f doth, on the condition of their being
Heratee, and one o f them afterwards prove to be Murwallee*, in that
cafe the fale is completely invalid, that is, does not hold good even
with refpect to the true one, although the feller fhould have fpecified
the prices of both; for when the feller joined together both pieces in
the declaration of a fale of Heratee pieces, he, as it were, eftablilhed a
* 0 f the manufacture o f the provinces o f H erat and o f M urwa.
condition
c o n d i t io n that the purchafer fhould accept a piece of MurwuBee-, which
being afalfe condition the fale is therefore annulled.
If a perfon purchafe a piece of cloth, on the condition of its mea- Cafe of the
furing ten yards, and atrthé rate >of one di'rm for ead* yard, and the pî^ceofcîoth
meafurement afterwards prove to be ten yards and a half, or nine
yards and a half; in this: cafe the purchafer- (according to Haneefa}
muft pay ten dirms in the f r f i inftance, and nine in the fécond’, {fill
having the option of undoing the contract i f he pleafe, Aboo. Toofaf
alleges that if the purchafer chufe to abide by the contract, he muft
pay eleven dirms in the fir[l inftance, and ten in the fécond. The
opinion o f Mohammed is, that in cafe the purchafer chufes to. abide by
the contract, he muft pay ten and a half dit ms in the f r f i inftance, and
nine and a half in the fécond-, becaufe the meafurement of a yard having
been fixed at sne.dirm, it neceffarily follows that half a yard -muft be
rated at half a dirm. The reafoningof Aboo Toofaf is that as the price
©f each yard was fixed at one dirm, it follows that each yard becomes
virtually a diftind piece of cloth ; and as one of thefe proves defective,
k follows that the purchafer has the option either of undoing the bargain,
or of taking the goods according to the terms- of the contrad.
The arguments adduced by Haneefa in fupport of his opinion are, that
the fpecification of yards is confideredas referring to the defcription,
and not the real quantity of the thing, excepting only where the-
price of each given meafurement is fpecifically ftipulafëd-as a. condition
of the contrad. Now as, in the cafe in queftion, the rate is
oppofed to each complete yard, but not to any fnailer quantity, it fol-
lows that fuch fmaller quantity muft be confidered as remaining in
its original form,— that is, as applying merely to defcription, and’:
therefore cannot involve an additional payment. Some have obferved
that in coarfe cotton cloths, of which the extreme and interior parts*
are of a fimilar texture, it is not lawful for the purchafer to take any
excefs beyond the terms of the contrad ; as-it may be cut off and re-
ftored to the feller without any injury to the piece, in the manne* of
B b b 2 things