A fale for
bafe dirms is
null, if they
lofe their currency
before
the period of
payment.
If dirms be adulterated to fuch a degree as to pafs current with
fame, but not with others, they are equivalent to Z ey f or bafe dirms.
Hence, if a perfon enter into a contraft for fomething in exchange
for a hundred fpecific dirms of this defcription, the contract does not
relate to thofe fpecific dirms in particular, but to a fimilar amount of
bafe dirms, provided the feller were aware of the circumftance;— but
if otherwife, it relates to a fimilar number of pure dirms;— becaufe in
the JirJi cafe the aflent of the feller to receive the bafe fpecies is efta-
bhfhed by his knowledge of the bafenefs,— whereas in the fecond cafe
his affent is uneftablilhed becaufe of his ignorance of the bafenefs.
I f a perfon purchafe wares in exchange for bafe dirms, and, previous
to the payment of them, they fhould fall into general difufe,
in that cafe the. fale, according to Haneefa, is null. Aboo Yoofaf
maintains that it is incumbent on the purchafer to pay the value
which thcfe dirms bore on the day of fale. Mohammed, on the other
hand, alledges that it is incumbent on him to pay the value which they
bore on the laft day of their currency. The arguments of the two
difciples are'that the contract in itfelf is valid; but the delivery of the
dirms becomes impracticable from the difufe of them; a circumftance,
however, which does not induce invalidity;— any more than where a
perfon purchales an article for frefh dates, and the feafon for thofe
pafl’es away;— in which cafe the fale is not invalid^ and fo alfo in the
cafe in queftion.— As, therefore, the contract is not invalid, but ftill
endures, it follows that, according to Aboo Yoofaf, the value the dirms
bore at the time of the fale is due, becaufe from that period refponfi-
bility for them takes place; in the fame manner as in a cafe of ufurp-
ation;— and that, according to Mohammed, (on the other hand) the
value they bore on the laft day of their currency is due, fince at that
period the right of the feller fhifted from them, to their value.— The
argument of Haneefa is, that the price is deftroyed by the difufe; for
money is the reprefentative of price folely from cuftom, and hence
this property is annulled from difufe. The fale, therefore, remains
without ,
without any price being involved in it, and is confequently null; and
as the fale is null, it is of courfe incumbent on the putchafer to re-
ftore the goods to the feller, provided they be extant; or, if otherwife,
the value which they bore on the day he obtained pofleflion of them;
in the fame manner as in an invalid fale.
A s a l e in exchange for Fa/oos is valid, becaufe they are confidered
as durable property. If, therefore, the Fa/oos pafs in currency, the
fale is lawful, although they may not have been fpecified,— becaufe
Faloos are, from cuftom, reprefentatives of price, and confequently
ftand not in need of fpecification. If, however, they fhould not pafs
in currency, it is in that cafe requifite that they be particularly fpecified,
in the fame manner as other articles of merchandize.
If a perfon purchafe wares for Faloos, which at that time palled in
currency, but which previous to the payment of them fall into difufe,
the fale is in that cafe null, according to Haneefa: contrary, however,
to the opinion of the two difciples.— T h e difference of opinion upon
this point is analogous to what has been already mentioned in treating
of dirms in which the alloy is predominant.
If a perfon borrow Faloos, and their currency fhould afterwards
ceafe, then, according to Haneefa, the borrower, muft make repayment
in fimilars*; becaufe Karz [a loan of money\ is equivalent to
Areeat [a loan of fubflance,\ and therefore requires the reftoration of
the adtual article with refpeft to its nature, that is, its value.— The
property of reprefenting price, moreover, is merely an adventitious
property, in copper coin, to which no regard is had in the borrowing
of them; on the contrary, they are borrowed on the principle
* B y fimilars is always under flood any articles compenfable by an equal number of the
fame defcription, fuch as 'eggs for eggs^ Faloos for Faloos^ Sic. It is treated o f at large in various
other parts o f the work.
of
Rules with
refpeft to copper
coinage.
4 C 2