is permissible. So what is the difference?! Accordingly, if he stipulates that the firewood be carried, chopped, and brought into its designated place in the house, this condition is valid, even though it comprises three conditions, because they are known conditions and entail no legal prohibition. The basic principle governing transactions is that they are lawful and permitted. It has therefore become clear to us that valid conditions fall into three categories:
The first category consists of matters established whether they are stipulated or not, because they are entailed by the contract itself—for example, the seller’s delivery of the item sold, the buyer’s payment of the price, the price being payable immediately, and similar matters that require no stipulation. If such a matter is stipulated, it merely serves as confirmation. Even if one were to combine a thousand conditions of this kind, the sale would be valid.
The second category consists of conditions connected to the interest of the contract, but which do not constitute an independent benefit—that is, a benefit enjoyed by either the seller or the buyer. Examples include a pledge, the slave being literate, the slave-girl being a virgin, the riding animal being well-trained, and the like.
The third category is a condition that provides a benefit either to the seller or to the buyer. A condition benefiting the seller is, for example, when he sells his house on condition that he may live in it for a month. A condition benefiting the buyer is, for example, that he stipulates that the seller carry the firewood, and the like. If two conditions of these latter two categories are combined, then according to the view adopted by the author—which is the established position of the school—the sale is invalid. The correct view, however, is that it is valid, and there is nothing wrong with it.
“Among them are invalid conditions that invalidate the contract, such as either party stipulating upon the other another contract, such as an advance-payment sale, a loan, a sale, a lease, or currency exchange . . .”
His statement, “Among them are invalid conditions that invalidate the contract,” refers to the second category of conditions: invalid conditions.