1. The question in this appeal is whether the sale of the immovable property of a Mahomedan minor by a so-called de facto guardian - in this case the elder brother of the minor - can be validated by the minor ratifying the sale after attaining majority. (It does not appear that a plea of ratification was, in terms, taken by the contesting defendants in this case; nor was any express issue joined on that question. But, both the trial court and the lower appellate court have, it would appear, managed to find such a plea implied in the plea of estoppel, acquiescence and abandonment taken by the defendants and have dealt with the question of ratification in considering the issues joined on these pleas). The first court taking the view that such a sale was void ab initio and therefore incapable of ratification gave the plaintiff herein a preliminary decree for partition and separate possession of his share of the property, a leasehold, that had been alienated by his brother, claiming to act as his guardian while he was a minor. (The suit was brought within three years of the plaintiff attaining majority so that no question of limitation could possibly arise). But the lower a