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III. Judgment of Wise men: Indeed it is confirmed in the Judgment of Wise men that evil (that is things such as liability) is not a befitting recompense for favour.
There is no doubt in the agreement of Wise men upon the evil of seeking recompense from a person [who was] acting in the capacity of doing a favour. The value placed upon the opinion of wise men is based on its' non-rejection by the Legislator. In this light the tendency of Wise men fully confirms the validity of this Precept.
NOTE:
Is the subject of the above precept the intention of performing an act as favour, or the occurrence of the act of favour without its intention, or both? Conventionally ('Urfan), a favour is deemed to be an act of favour in actuality, even if it is not intended. However it is certain that at least an act of favour brought about through an intention of doing a favour, will be considered as a favour.
THE PRECEPT OF [CAUSING DELIBERATE] DAMAGE
(Qa'idah al-Itlaf)
The Meaning: Itlaf (lit. damage-loss-injury) is the cause of damage to a property belonging to a Muslim, through its wilful non-authorised usage, whether the damage is deliberate or by mistake. The outcome [of this Precept] is the incurrence of liability by the one who has caused the damage. This Precept is, popularly, defined by the scholars with the statement: " whoever causes damage to the property of others bears liability". It has to be qualified however that the damage is not as a result of an intention of conferring a favour, in which case the matter will be judged by the Precept of Favour 'ihsan'. Such a person will bear liability in terms of the price or replacement of the property or service to whom he has caused harm.
The Precept at times is also expressed as the Precept of "One who Causes Damage".
Sources: The Precept is substantiated by the following;
I. Verses: From them are His words, the Lofty: " the return for evil is evil of its like", what is understood from the universality of this verse is that the return for transgression and damage is responsibility and liability. It should be noted however, that the conventional understanding of evil is specific to the case of causing deliberate damage, thus the evidence as regards this verse is more specific than made by the Precept.
Another verse from His words, the Lofty, is: "…inflict injury (damage)on him according to the injury (damage) he has inflicted on you…"
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