Hiring an Animal and Using Beyond Limit

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who hires a stumper to a certain place but he goes beyond such place. He (the Imam) said, ’He must pay for the extra distance; and if the donkey is destroyed, he is held responsible.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu Ja’far (a.s.), about the case of a man who rents a stumper and says, ‘I rent it from you to so and so place; if I went beyond such place you will be paid so and so much extra which he mentions.’ He (the Imam) said, ’All of it is permissible.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who rents a stumper to a certain place but it dies. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he has violated the stipulation he is responsible, if he enters a valley where he is not confident for its safety, he then is responsible, if it falls in a well where for its safety he is not confident, he is responsible.’”

“I once heard abu Ja’far (a.s.), saying, ‘I was sitting near the judge in al-Madinah when two men came to him. One of them said, ‘I hired this person to appear in the market on such and such day but he did not appear.’ The judge said, ’He does not deserve payment.’ He (the Imam) has said, ’I then called him and said, “O servant of Allah, you cannot take away his right.” To the other man I said, “You cannot take all that he owes. You must reach a settlement and be lenient toward each other.’””

“I once was sitting with the judge and abu Ja’far (a.s.), was also there, when two men came to him and one of them said, ‘I rented a camel from this man to carry my goods to the mine and I stipulated with him to come to me to the mine on so and so day because that was the market day and I was afraid of missing it. If you will be held up I will reduce the rent for each day that you are held up so and so much amount. He kept me on hold for so and so many days.’ The judge said, ’This is an invalid stipulation. You must pay his rent.’ When the man stood up he came to abu Ja’far (a.s.), who said, ’His stipulation is permissible as long as he does not drop all of the rent.’”

“I once rented a mule to Qasr ibn Hubayrah for both ways for so and so much amount. I left in search of my debtor and when I reached near the bridge of al-Kufah, I was informed that my debtor had gone to al-Nil. I then moved to al-Nil. When I went to al-Nil I was informed that my debtor had gone to Baghdad. I then followed him, found him and finalized whatever was between him and me and we returned to al-Kufah. Going and coming took me fifteen days. I informed the owner of the mule of my reasons for the delay. I wanted to make it a lawful deal and make him agree so I paid him fifteen dirham but he refused to accept it. We then agreed to go to abu Hanifah for judgment. I told my side of the story to him and the man also told his side of the story. He asked me, ‘What did you do to the mule?’ I replied, ‘I have returned it to him safely.’ He (owner) said, ‘Yes, after fifteen days.’ He asked, ‘What do you want from the man?’ He replied, ‘I want the rent for the mule which he kept for fifteen days.’ He said, ‘I do not see any such right in your favor because he rented it to Qasr ibn Hubayrah, and he then violated the agreement and rode it to al-Nil and to Baghdad, so he became responsible for the price of the mule and the rent became void. He then returned the mule safely to you and you have it in your possession so he is not responsible for rent.’ We came out of his office and the owner of mule kept saying, ‘To Allah we belong and to Him we all return.’ I felt sympathy for him because of the fatwa of abu Hanifah against him and I gave him something and asked him not to hold me responsible. I went for al-Hajj in that year and informed abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the fatwa of abu Hanifah. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is because of this kind of judgments that the sky stops sending water and the earth denies its blessings.’ I then asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘What do you say about it?’ I say that you must pay him a similar rent that is charged for a mule from al-Kufah to al-Nil, a similar rent for a mule that is charged from al-Nil to Baghdad, a similar rent that is charged for a mule from Baghdad to al-Kufah. You must pay him.’ I then said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, I fed the mule with a cost of many dirhams so he must pay for the feed.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘No, because you usurped it.’ I then said, ‘What could happen if the mule died and was damaged, would he not hold me responsible?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, he could do so for the value of the mule on the day you went against the stipulation.’ I then asked, ‘What could happen if the mule became damaged, sustained injuries or so?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘You would owe the price between healthy and damaged mule on the day you returned to him.’ I then asked, ‘Who could determine it?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘You and he (owner of mule) could do so. Either he had to take an oath to confirm the value for which you were responsible. If he turned the oath to you, you then had to take an oath about the value and it became binding on him or the owner of the mule had to present testimony and witness to prove how much the value of the mule was when it was rented and it became binding upon you.’ I then said, ‘I gave him a certain amount of dirham, he agreed and made it lawful in my favor.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He agreed and made it lawful for you because of the fatwa of abu Hanifah, unjustly. However, you must go to him and inform him of my fatwa on this matter to see if he still agrees after knowing it, thereafter there will be nothing on you.’ Abu Wallad al-Hannat has said, ‘As soon as I returned I met al-Mukariy and informed him of the fatwa of abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), and I said to him, “Now say what you want to say so I pay you.” He said, “I feel love for Ja’far ibn Muhammad in my heart and my heart says he has preference over the others. You do not owe me anything even though I love to return what I have taken from you, I still can do so.’””

“This is concerning my question before abu al-Hassan (a.s.), about the case of a man who rents a stumper but he gives it to another one and it dies. He (the Imam) said, ‘If he had stipulated that no one else except him ride it, then he is responsible; if such thing is not mentioned then he is not responsible.’”