Issue: Is it permissible to sell the fruit of date palms while it is still on the trees? That is, if I purchase fruit and then sell it, this is permissible, even though it remains under the seller’s liability. Thus, if it is destroyed by a heavenly calamity after I have sold it, the purchaser may seek recourse from me, and I in turn may seek recourse from the original seller.
Therefore, not everything that remains under the seller’s liability may not be disposed of. Rather, an item may remain under the seller’s liability while still being permissible to dispose of, such as fruit growing on date palms.
Accordingly, the things that may not be disposed of before possession is taken are six: whatever is sold by measure, weight, count, length, description, or prior inspection. It is not permissible to dispose of these until they have been fully taken delivery of, and all of them remain under the seller’s liability until they are taken delivery of. A seventh item is added: fruit growing on trees. It remains under the seller’s liability, yet the purchaser may nevertheless dispose of it.
This definition of possession is beneficial in many contexts. It is relevant to everything in which possession is regarded either as a condition for validity or as a condition for binding effect. Possession is a condition for validity in such matters as usury transactions, and a condition for binding effect in such matters as a pledge and a gift, for, according to the established school of law, these do not become binding except through possession. Thus, knowing what constitutes possession is indispensable and not a trivial matter, because it recurs in many chapters of fiqh.
“And if anything other than what is sold by measure and the like is destroyed, it is under his liability, unless the seller prevents him from taking possession of it.”
His statement, “And if anything other than what is sold by measure and the like is destroyed, it is under his liability,” means: under the purchaser’s liability. Here, “what” is a relative pronoun meaning “that which,” and “other than” means “beyond” or “apart from”; that is, if anything other than