“Whatever has no established custom in those two places is determined according to the custom of its own locality.” We refer to the local custom: if people buy and sell it by weight, then it is considered weighed; if by volume, then it is considered measured by volume; and if by number, then it is considered counted. This is because there is no criterion to which we may refer with respect to Mecca and Medina.

Some scholars said: It should be compared to the item in Mecca and Medina that most closely resembles it. Thus, if the closest comparable item is measured by volume in Medina, it is considered measured by volume; and if it is weighed in Mecca, it is considered weighed. This view is closer to rational consideration, because where certainty is unattainable, one refers to what is most probable.

It may also be said, however, that when it has no established custom in Mecca and Medina, we should set aside resemblance and say that the matter returns to what people customarily recognize. This second view is more likely to be correct in terms of ease and facilitation for the Muslims, lest disputes arise: one person may say, “This resembles what is measured by volume in Medina,” while another says, “This resembles what is weighed in Mecca.” Rather, it should be said: so long as it has no established custom in Mecca and Medina and is only a recent development, its local custom is to be considered. This is the view adopted by the author, may Allah have mercy on him, on account of the Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “The measure is the measure of Medina, and the weight is the weight of Mecca.” (1)

Some scholars said: Whatever the Sacred Law explicitly states to be measured by volume is