If a pregnant female slave is purchased and gives birth during the buyer's option period, must the offspring be returned with the mother upon exercising the option to return the sale?
Chapter on the Option of the Two Parties in Sale
Al-Mughni
Book of Sales
Primary text
If a pregnant female slave is purchased and delivers her offspring while the option period is active, the buyer must return the offspring along with the mother. This is because the offspring is considered an attached, continuous increase (ziyada muttasilah) to the purchased item, and therefore must be returned along with its increase, similar to if one of two purchased enslaved persons gained weight while in his possession.
Supporting text
Al-Shafi'i, in one of his two opinions, holds that the offspring does not need to be returned because the fetus has no independent legal standing (*hukm*); it is merely an attached part of the mother, similar to her limbs, and thus does not receive a portion of the purchase price. This view is rebutted by the principle that anything to which the price can be apportioned when detached, can be apportioned when attached, such as milk. Furthermore, the fetus differs from limbs because it eventually separates, can be benefited from independently when separated, can be freed, bequeathed, gifted, inherited, and its blood money (*diyah*) can be subject to specific rulings, invalidating the claim that the fetus lacks independent legal standing.