property is deftroyed, from being fallen upon by a perfon walking m
his fleep, or from the falling of an inclined wall, after dufe warning;
in which cafes the deeper or the owner of the wall are refponfible, although
they did not •dejign the deftrudtion.
Acknow- A n acknowledgment made by a (lave is efficient with refpeft to the
L lfvTla» Have himfelf, becaufe of his competency; but it is inefficient with
him/eif, not to his mailer, from tendernefs to his right; for if he were
1 liable to be affeaed by it, the debt or obligation c'ontrafted by the
fca upon him fla^ , s acknowledgment would attach to his [the flave’ s] perfon or to
c l i n g free, his ac quifitions, which would be deftrudive o f his [the mailers] pro-
perty.— If, therefore, a Have make an acknowledgment concerning
property, fuch property is obligatory upon him after he lhall become
free; becaufe a Have is in himfelf competent to make a valid acknowledgment,
the validity of which is however obftruded by the right of
his mailer; but that right is extinguilhed upon his becoming free, and
confequently the obftru&ion then ceafes to exill.
or on the in- IF a flave make ah acknowledgment inducing pumlhment or reta-
liation, thofe are executed upon him on the inftant, f inceheisac-
fadon” re‘a" counted f r a with refpeft to his blood, whence it is that his mailer s
acknowledgment affe&ing his blood is not admitted.
Divorce pro- D iV o r c e pronounced by a flave is valid and efficient, becauie of
idm^valM the faying of [the prophet] before quoted, and alfo becaufe the prophet
has faid, “ a flave and a M o k a t i b are not majlers o f any thing
1 except divorce."— Belides, as a flave knows what is advi'feable for
him with regard to divorcing his wife, he is therefore competent to
that adt. His mailer’s right of property in him," moreover, or tlie
advantage he derives from his Services, are not liable to be thereby loll
or defeated.— Divorce by a Have is therefore lawful and effeaual.
C H A P .
C H A P . II.
Of Inhibition from Weaknefs of Mind*.
IlANEEFA has declared it as his opinion that there is no inhibition 'Inhibition,
upon‘a’ freeman who is fane and adult, notwithftanding he be a pro- 'loaprJtigal,
digal -f-; and alfo, that the a£ls of fuch a perfon, with regard to his
property, are valid, although he be one of an extravagant arid carelefe
difpofition, who throws away his property on obje&s in which neither
his intereft. nor his inclination are concerned. A prodigal \Safeeya\
figriifies one who in confequertce of a levity of underflanding a£ts
merely from the impulfe of the moment, in opposition to the didlates
of the l aw and of -common fenfe.— Aboo Toofcf, Mohammed, and
Shafdi, maintain that a prodigal is under inhibition, and is interdifted
from a£ling with his own property, as he expends his fubftance idly,
and in a manner repugnant to the didlates of realon. Hence he is
placed under inhibition, for his own advantage, becaufe of the analogy
between him and an infant :— nay, he is to be inhibited rather
than an infant, lince in an infant careleflhels and extravagance are
only to be apprehended, whereas in'him they are certain,— whence it is
* Arab. F ijd d ; meaning'! in this place) any fpecies o f mental depravity, (notoccafioned
b y a defedt o f underitanding,) or the pradtice o f any folly, fuch as extravagance, or to forth .
t Arab . Safeeya. A c cording to the lexicons it lignifies light-minded. Prodigal m ay
appear, in many places, to be -rather too harjh a term. T h e word might more literally be
rendered indiscreet, it being frequently oppofed, in the fequel, to Rajheed, a difereet perfon.
A s , however, the translator does not recoiled! any fubftantive in our language perfectly cor-
refpondent with this idea, he has thought it advifeable to adopt that term which molt nearly
anfwers to the definition o f the MuJJitlman dodtors, although it be mot precifely what he
could wilh.
V O L . III. P P P that