Who is liable if the goods sold are lost in the post

Question

Question: Zayd ordered some books from ‘Umar by post, by way of purchase. ‘Umar sent books many times to the address written by Zayd; on several of these occasions the books were received in full, but from some packets some books were lost and did not reach Zayd. In this case, who is liable, according to the Shari‘a, for what was lost?

Answer

If ‘Umar (the seller) dispatched the books in accordance with the instructions of Zayd (the buyer) and was not negligent, then no liability (daman) falls on the seller, because he acted upon the buyer’s instruction.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.