Can the buyer have sexual intercourse with a female slave during the option period if the option belongs to the buyer or the seller?
Chapter on the Option of the Two Parties in Sale
Al-Mughni
Book of Sales
Primary text
Sexual intercourse by the buyer with the female slave during the option period is forbidden if the option belongs to either the buyer or the seller alone, because the seller retains a right concerning her, similar to a mortgaged female slave. This ruling is established without known dispute. If the buyer engages in intercourse, no Hadd (statutory punishment) is due because Hadd is repelled by doubt of ownership, and doubt is stronger than actual ownership. No Mahr (dowry) is owed because the slave is his property. If she becomes pregnant by him, the resulting child is free, the lineage is established through him, and he is not liable for the child's value; she becomes an Umm Walad (concubine by right of bearing a child). If the seller revokes the sale, he recovers the value of the slave because nullification of the sale is obstructed (by the pregnancy), but he does not recover the value of the child because the child originated during the buyer's possession.
Supporting text
If it is ruled that ownership does not transfer to the buyer, then no Hadd is due because the buyer has a doubt concerning ownership due to the existence of the cause for transfer, and there is scholarly disagreement regarding the establishment of his ownership; Hadd is repelled by doubts. The buyer owes Mahr, and the value of the child is treated as the value of its increase. If the buyer knew the act was forbidden and that his ownership was not established, his offspring is enslaved.