Selling a Slave Who Owns Property

قُلْتُ لِأَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ع الرَّجُلُ يَشْتَرِي الْمَمْلُوكَ وَ لَهُ مَالٌ لِمَنْ مَالُهُ فَقَالَ إِنْ كَانَ عَلِمَ الْبَائِعُ أَنَّ لَهُ مَالًا فَهُوَ لِلْمُشْتَرِي وَ إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ عَلِمَ فَهُوَ لِلْبَائِعِ‌[1].

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who buys a slave who owns assets; to whom such assets belong? He (the Imam) said, Tf the seller knows that the slave owns assets then such assets belong to the buyer but if he does not know then they belong to the seller.’”

سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ رَجُلٍ بَاعَ مَمْلُوكاً فَوَجَدَ لَهُ مَالًا قَالَ فَقَالَ الْمَالُ لِلْبَائِعِ إِنَّمَا بَاعَ نَفْسَهُ إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ شَرَطَ عَلَيْهِ أَنَّ مَا كَانَ لَهُ مِنْ مَالٍ أَوْ مَتَاعٍ فَهُوَ لَهُ.

“I once asked one of the two Imam, (abu Ja’far or abu ‘Abd Allah), ‘Alayhim al-Salam, about the case of a man who sells a slave and finds out that the slave owns assets. He (the Imam) said, ‘Such assets belong to the seller; he has sold the slave’s person unless it is a condition in the contract of sale that says that

قُلْتُ لَهُ الرَّجُلُ يَشْتَرِي الْمَمْلُوكَ وَ مَالَهُ قَالَ لَا بَأْسَ بِهِ قُلْتُ فَيَكُونُ مَالُ الْمَمْلُوكِ أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا اشْتَرَاهُ بِهِ قَالَ لَا بَأْسَ بِهِ‌[2].

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who buys a slave and his assets. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if the assets of the slave are more than what is paid to buy the slave?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”