Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (9/42)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

—that is sufficient. But is it permissible to sell grapes merely because ripening has appeared in the fruit of the date palms? The answer is no, because grapes are not of the same genus; each has its own ruling.

“The appearance of ripening in date-palm fruit is that it turns red or yellow; in grapes, that they become soft and juicy, and sweet; and in the rest of the fruits, that ripeness becomes apparent and they become pleasant to eat. Whoever sells a slave who possesses property, his property belongs to the seller.”

His statement, “The appearance of ripening in date-palm fruit is that it turns red or yellow,” is based on the previously mentioned hadith (1), and because this is a sign of its ripeness—that is, that it changes colour. The colour of date-palm fruit is either red or yellow; we know of no colour other than red and yellow. If it were hypothetically found that some date-palm fruit was green, then turned black, for example, as it neared ripeness, the ruling follows its effective cause. Restricting this to redness and yellowness is based on what ordinarily occurs, and what is stated on the basis of what ordinarily occurs carries no contrary implication.

His statement, “In grapes, that they become soft and juicy, and sweet,” stipulates two conditions: that they become soft and juicy, and that their sweetness becomes apparent. Becoming soft and juicy means that they soften and become full of water, for as long as grapes are unripe, they are firm; once they soften, this is what is meant by becoming soft and juicy. Yet they must also be sweet, so as to exclude the case where they become soft and juicy due to a defect, such as a lack of water. That does not constitute ripeness; rather, they must become soft and juicy while being sweet.

Some scholars expressed it by saying, “For grapes, that they turn black,” by analogy with the changing of colour in date-palm fruit. This is correct for grapes whose ripeness is marked by blackening, but there are grapes that do not turn black even when they have reached the height of ripeness.

There may also be grapes that do not become soft and juicy—grapes that remain firm even though ripening has appeared. For this reason, some scholars used a comprehensive expression and said:

(1) Its source has previously been cited; see p. 21.

كفى، لكن هل يجوز بيع العنب لأنه بدا صلاح ثمر النخل؟ الجواب: لا؛ لأنه ليس من جنسه فلكل واحدة حكم نفسها. وبُدُوُ الصَّلاحِ في ثَمَرِ النَّخْلِ أَنْ تَحْمَرَّ أَوْ تَصْفَرَّ، وفي العِنَبِ أَنْ يَتَمَوَّهَ حُلْواً وَفِي بَقِيَّةِ الثَّمَرِ أَنْ يَبْدُوَ فِيهِ النُّضْجُ ويَطِيبَ أَكْلُهُ، ومَنْ بَاعَ عَبْداً لَهُ مَالٌ فَمَالُهُ لِبائِعِهِ قوله: «وبدو الصلاح في ثمر النخل أن تحمر أو تصفر» وذلك للحديث المتقدم (١)، ولأن ذلك علامة على نضجها، يعني أن تلون، ولون النخل إما أحمر وإما أصفر، ولا نعلم لوناً غير الأحمر والأصفر، ولو فرض أنه وجد بعض النخل أخضر، ثم إذا قارب النضوج صار أسود مثلاً، فالحكم يدور مع العلة، وتقييد ذلك بالاحمرار والاصفرار بناء على الغالب، وما جرى بناءً على الغالب فليس له مفهوم. قوله: «وفي العنب أن يتموَّه حلواً» شرط شرطين: أن يتموَّه، وأن تظهر فيه الحلاوة، ومعنى يتموَّه يعني يلين، يصير ماءً؛ لأن العنب ما دام حصرماً فهو قاسٍ، فإذا لان فهذا هو التموُّه، لكن لا بُد مع ذلك أن يكون حلواً، احترازاً مما لو تموه بآفة كقلة الماء ـ مثلاً ـ فإنه لا يكون ذلك صلاحاً بل لا بد أن يتموه حلواً. وعبر بعض العلماء بقولهم: «العنب أن يسود» قياساً على تلوين النخل، وهذا صحيح بالنسبة لما صلاحه باسوداده، لكن هناك عنب لا يسود، ولو بلغ الغاية في النضوج. وربما يوجد ـ أيضاً ـ عنب لا يتموه، عنب قاسٍ ولو كان قد بدا صلاحه، ولهذا عبر بعض أهل العلم بعبارة جامعة قال:

(١) سبق تخريجه ص (٢١).