Is a disbeliever excused for his ignorance if he buys a slave who is a relative and is thereby freed by his ownership?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah bless you, is a disbeliever excused for his ignorance? For example, if a disbeliever says to us, "I do not know the rulings of the Shari'ah in this matter: if I buy a slave who is a relative, is he freed by me simply by my saying, 'I accept'?"
The Shaykh : Yes, the scholars say that in transactions, the criterion is what is the reality of the matter, and in acts of worship, the criterion is the preponderance of probability. So we say to this man, it does not matter to us whether you knew or did not know; the slave is freed by you, and you are compelled to remove your ownership of him.
The questioner : Is this in all transactions, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, indeed yes, the criterion is what is the reality of the matter.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The first one we said.
The Shaykh : Yes, the scholars say that in transactions, the criterion is what is the reality of the matter, and in acts of worship, the criterion is the preponderance of probability. So we say to this man, it does not matter to us whether you knew or did not know; the slave is freed by you, and you are compelled to remove your ownership of him.
The questioner : Is this in all transactions, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, indeed yes, the criterion is what is the reality of the matter.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The first one we said.