I have a sheep in my custody that a wolf attacked, and I was forced to slaughter it and serve it to my guests
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Q: I was a sheep owner for more than thirty years. I had a ewe belonging to a man who asked me to let it graze with my sheep. One day, a wolf attacked me and inflicted wounds on this ewe from which it could not recover. That night, it happened that guests came to visit me, so I slaughtered it for them; because it would have died if I had not slaughtered it, and if I had not slaughtered it, it would have been slaughtered from my sheep. After a while, its owner asked me about it, and I told him: "The wolf caused its slaughter," but I did not tell him that I had slaughtered it for my guests. Knowing that the reason for its slaughter was the wolf, and also that if guests had not come to me
that night, I would have slaughtered it because of the wounds it sustained from the wolf. So, do I have to compensate its owner for it, because it served one of my sheep, or is there nothing required of me regarding it? Please give us a ruling, and may Allah preserve you.
A: It is obligatory for you to pay this man the value of his ewe at the time you slaughtered it; because it was in your custody, and a deposit is guaranteed in cases of transgression and negligence. You transgressed by slaughtering it, and you benefited at the same time.
that night, I would have slaughtered it because of the wounds it sustained from the wolf. So, do I have to compensate its owner for it, because it served one of my sheep, or is there nothing required of me regarding it? Please give us a ruling, and may Allah preserve you.
A: It is obligatory for you to pay this man the value of his ewe at the time you slaughtered it; because it was in your custody, and a deposit is guaranteed in cases of transgression and negligence. You transgressed by slaughtering it, and you benefited at the same time.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.