Is a sale rescindable if the buyer mistakenly believes a slave is a scribe based on stained fingertips?
Chapter on Selling the Musarrah (Animal with milk retained in udder)
Al-Mughni
Book of Sales
Primary text
The buyer has no option to rescind the sale of a slave whose fingertips are darkened (sudad anamil) if the buyer assumes he is a scribe or a blacksmith. This assumption is invalid because the discoloration could be due to dipping into ink (lawligh bil-diwah), or merely the slave being in training for scribing, or being the attendant of a scribe. Basing the purchase upon this perceived profession, which stems from mere hope, does not establish a right to revoke the sale.