His statement, “and the like,” includes onions and carrots. Thus, anything whose intended part is in the ground is unknown and may not be sold until it is uprooted. Once it has been uprooted and becomes exposed and visible above the ground, it may be sold. This too is an issue over which the scholars differ.

The second view is that its sale is valid, because—even though the intended part is concealed—it is known to those with expertise, who can identify it. Thus, after the crop has fully matured, one may go to a farmer and say: Sell me this plot of land containing onions, garlic, or radishes for such-and-such an amount. Its sale is then valid. This view is sounder, and it has been acted upon since ancient times. They do not consider this to involve ignorance; and even if it is assumed that some ignorance exists, it is slight and does not amount to excessive uncertainty. This view was preferred by Shaykh al-Islam and Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on them both.

“It is not valid to sell by touch or by throwing, nor to sell one slave out of his slaves, and the like …”

His statement, “It is not valid to sell by touch”: sale by touch is a reciprocal form, which generally involves two parties. It is derived from touching, such as when the seller says to the buyer: Whichever garment you touch is yours for such-and-such a price. The sale is invalid, because the buyer may touch a garment worth one hundred, or he may touch one worth only ten; thus, it involves ignorance and excessive uncertainty. It undoubtedly resembles gambling, if it is not itself gambling.

There is another meaning of sale by touch: that he says, “Whichever garment you touch is yours for ten,” even if the garments are all of one type and identical in specification. This interpretation is based on the view that making a sale conditional upon a condition is invalid, because “whichever garment you touch” is a conditional clause. However, this latter example is only