His statement, “Nor may crops be sold before their grain has hardened”: this applies where they are not being sold as fodder. If they are sold as fodder, it is not a condition that their grain has hardened. Rather, once they have reached the stage at which they may be harvested, they may be sold, and there is nothing wrong with that.

His statement, “Nor green fodder, vegetables, cucumbers, or similar produce such as eggplant, apart from the underlying plant, unless this is stipulated on condition that they be cut immediately”: likewise, green fodder—known locally as barsīm or qatt—may not be sold apart from its underlying plant unless it is stipulated that it be cut immediately. For if it is sold apart from its underlying plant without stipulating immediate cutting, then, if its cutting is delayed even by a single day, it will grow further. This additional growth arising after its sale belongs to the seller, yet it is unknown; consequently, the transaction becomes uncertain, because we do not know how much it will grow between the sale and its cutting. Therefore, we say: Do not sell this qatt unless you stipulate that the buyer must cut it immediately. This is the view adopted by the author, may Allah have mercy on him.

But the correct view is that this is not a condition, provided that it is cut at the time when similar fodder is ordinarily cut. Delaying the harvest for a day, two days, or a week is not regarded by people as uncertainty, nor does it lead to dispute. The basic principle regarding sales is permissibility and validity unless evidence establishes prohibition. This is the practice followed, and people in the past—and perhaps still today—would sell green fodder, meaning qatt, once it had completed its growth, even though its harvesting might be delayed for as long as ten days. Indeed, a large tract of land entirely filled with qatt cannot be harvested in one or two days.