the contract is concluded, or he must have seen it before the contract within a period during which the item sold would not undergo any apparent change after being seen. For example, if he saw fresh dates two days earlier and concludes the sale now, is the prior inspection two days ago sufficient? The answer is no, because they change. Likewise, if he saw a watermelon two days earlier and then concludes the sale today, it is not valid, because it changes during that period.

Thus, inspection must take place at the time of the contract, or before it within a period during which the item sold would not change.

His statement, “or description,” refers to the means of acquiring knowledge through description. The item described falls into two categories:

The first is a specified item.

The second is an item owed as a liability.

An example of a specified item is to say: “I have sold you this particular car of mine, whose description is such-and-such.”

An example of an item owed as a liability is to say: “I have sold you a car whose description is such-and-such.” Here, the car is not specified.

Both are valid, provided that the description corresponds to the item.

The evidence that description is sufficient is the hadith of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him: “When the Prophet ﷺ came to Madinah, people were paying in advance for fruits to be delivered one or two years later. He said: ‘Whoever pays in advance for something, let him do so for a specified measure, a specified weight, and a specified term.’” (1) Thus, knowledge of the commodity subject to the salam contract here