Tasriya (leaving a beast's udder unmilked to deceive a buyer)

Tasriya is when a seller deliberately leaves a beast unmilked for a while before sale so the buyer thinks it gives much milk. ¹

It is forbidden by consensus when the seller means to deceive, on the hadiths «whoever deceives us is not one of us» and «the sale of udder-tied beasts is a trick», and because it is deceit and harm. ¹

It is a defect that gives the buyer an option according to Malik, al-Shafii, Ahmad and Abu Yusuf, because it is deceit, on the hadith «do not leave camels and sheep unmilked; whoever buys them afterwards has the choice of two sights». ¹ Abu Hanifa held that the beast is not returned for tasriya and no option arises, since it is not a defect; deceit by what is not a defect gives no option. ^{1 2}

The jurists differ on the kind of compensation. For Ahmad, and in the sounder Shafii view, it is a sa of dates; for Malik, a sa of the staple food of the town; for Abu Yusuf, the value of the milk taken. ² If dates are not to be found, the Hanbalis require their value at the place of the contract, and the Shafiis in the sounder view their value at the nearest town that has them. ² For those who require the sa, the quantity of the milk does not matter. ²

The buyer must not have known the beast was tasrat before buying, and the seller must have intended it; if the udder was left by forgetfulness or for work, the Shafiis differ, and the Hanbalis give the option to remove the harm. ³ It must be returned after milking; if it is returned before milking, nothing is owed. ³ The buyer may not keep the beast and claim a compensation for the defect, since the Prophet ﷺ gave the buyer only the choice between keeping and returning with a sa. ³

If one buys two or more such beasts in one contract and returns them, a sa is returned with each according to the Shafii view and some Malikis; others say one sa for all. ^{3 4}

For the Shafiis the return is immediate, as in a defect option. The Hanbalis have three views: a fixed three days; that once tasriya is proven return is allowed before or after the three days; or that once known the option lasts through the three days. The Malikis do not allow return if the beast is milked on the third day and the choice was made on the second. ⁴