Selling a Found Child and One Born Out of Wedlock

1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Faddal from Muthanna’ from Zurarah who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘One cannot buy or sell an abandoned child that is found.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. Ahmad ibn Muhammad has narrated from ibn Faddal from Muthanna’ from Fiatim ibn ‘Isma’il al-Mad’iniy who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘A discarded child who is found is free, if he likes to have a guardian other than the one who has brought him up, he can do so. If the one who has brought him up asks for his expenses, if he is affluent he must pay him back and if he is not affluent then whatever is spent is counted as charity.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

3. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Ali ibn al-Hakam from ‘Abd al-Rahman al-‘Arzamiy who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah has narrated from his father (a.s.), who has said, ‘A discarded child is free. When he grows up, he can accept the one who picked him up as his guardian; otherwise, he must pay back what he has spent for him and he then can go to find a guardian of his choice.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

4. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from ibn Mahbub from Muhammad ibn Ahmad who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a discarded child. He (the Imam) said, ‘You cannot sell or buy him, but you can use his service to compensate for what you have spent for him.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

5. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Hammad from Hariz from Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following: “I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the case of a discarded child. He (the Imam) said, ‘He is free but cannot be sold or given away as a gift.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

6. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn abu ‘Abd Allah from his father from abu al-Jahm from abu Khadijah who has said the following: “I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘One born out of fornication does not recover as well as his price. Al-Mumraz does not recover for seven generations. It was asked, ‘What is al- Mumraz?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘One earns through unlawful ways and with such funds gets married or enjoys it, and a child is born for him. That child is al-Mumraz.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

7. Al-Husayn from Muhammad has narrated from Mu’alla’ ibn Muhammad from al-Hassan ibn Ali from Aban from those who narrated to him who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘Can I buy, sell or use services of one born out of wedlock? He (the Imam) said, ‘You can buy, sell, enslave or use his services but do not buy a discarded child that is found.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

8. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn abu ‘Abd Allah from ibn Faddal from Muthanna’ al-Hannat from abu Basir who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘I have a slave born out of wedlock; if I can perform al-Hajj with his price or spend it for my marriage/ He (the Imam) said, ‘You must not perform al-Hajj with it and do not spend it for your marriage.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.