What is the status of the seller when a buyer purchases dye and colors a garment with it?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of the Insolvent (Bankruptcy)
Primary text
The seller of the dye and the seller of the garment share the status of general creditors (aswa al-ghumā') regarding the combined item. This ruling is held because the original seller has not found the identical subject matter of his sale. Furthermore, the buyer has integrated the purchased item with another item via a contract of sale, preventing the original seller from reclaiming possession, similar to a stone used in construction or nails used to fasten a door.
Supporting text
The school of Al-Shafi'i maintains that the seller has the right to reclaim possession because he has found the corpus of his property. If the buyer purchased both the garment and the dye from the same seller, and the garment was subsequently dyed, the Shafi'i position suggests the seller reclaims only the garment, and the bankrupt seller becomes a partner with the buyer regarding the added value of the dye, sharing losses with creditors based on the dye's price.