To next page
Al-Shayzari : Nihayat al-Rutba fi Talab al-Hisba (The utmost authority in the pursuit of Hisba) (1164) Aleppo in Syria
-----------------------------------------------------
Full name:Shayzari, �Ali al-Rahman ibn Nasr ibn �Abd Allah
Traders in slaves and animals
The slave-trader must be trustworthy, reliable and honest, well known for his integrity and respectability. This is because he is responsible for the people�s male and female slaves and is occasionally alone with them in his house.
The trader must not sell a female or a male slave to someone unless he knows the seller or can find someone who knows him. He must write the seller�s name and description in his register in case the person sold is a freeman or has been stolen.
Anyone who wants to buy a female slave may look at her face and palms, but if he asks to examine her in his house and be alone with her the trader must not allow it unless there are other women present. These may see her whole body. Whoever wants to buy a male slave may look at what is above the navel and below the knees. All this may be done before the contract of sale. After the contract, the man may look at all the body of a female slave.
It is not permitted to separate a female slave and her child before seven years have elapsed. Nor it is permitted to sell to a dhimmi (non-Muslim) a female or male who might be a Muslim. The trader must be absolutely certain that the slave is not a Muslim. Whenever the trader knows that a person for sale has a defect, he must reveal this to the buyer, as we mentioned at the beginning of the book.
The slave-trader must be well acquainted with defects and experienced in incipient illnesses and diseases. If he wants to sell a male slave, he must first examine all his body except for his genitals. He does this so that if the slave has a defect or an illness he can inform the buyer of it. The first thing he should look at is his face, for if it is somewhat yellow or ashen this indicates hemorrhoids or a disease or illness in the liver or the spleen.