Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (9/58)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

skins, if, for example, he says: “The hide of a four-toothed or two-toothed animal,” and specifies the exact age. There is no problem with this, because the variation is slight.

His statement, “heads,” means that if you enter into a salam contract with someone, paying him one thousand riyals for one hundred sheep heads to be delivered after one year, this is not valid, because heads undoubtedly vary. Even if you were to say, “One hundred heads of four-toothed sheep,” for example, it would still not be valid, since they differ. Some sheep, when you see their heads, you would say that they are practically the heads of cows, while others have very small heads. According to the authoritative position of the school, this is not valid. However, if they are sold by weight, it is permissible, because weight precisely determines them.

His statement, “vessels whose tops and middles differ, such as flasks”: flasks are a type of vessel whose lower part is wide and whose upper part is narrow. Vessels are of two kinds: those whose tops and middles differ—being bulging in the middle and narrow at the top. A salam contract for such vessels is not valid, because in the past they were made by hand, and it was rarely possible to specify their qualities precisely. Nowadays, however, they are manufactured by machines. Thus, if you say, “I have entered into a salam contract with you for vessels of such-and-such a model,” they can be precisely specified—indeed, more precisely than goods sold by measure or weight. In the past, however, since vessels were made by hand, specifying them precisely was difficult.

It is understood from his statement, “whose tops and middles differ,” that if their tops and middles were uniform, a salam contract for them would be permissible, because they could be precisely specified. For example, if they were like a column, they could be specified by the metre: once their upper part was specified, their lower part would also be determined, because it would not differ. As for those that differ, a salam contract for them is not permissible for the reason already mentioned.

الجلود، إذا قال مثلاً: جلد رَباعية أو ثنية وعين السن، فإن هذا لا بأس به؛ لأن الاختلاف فيه يسير. قوله: «والرؤوس» أي: إذا أسلمت إليك ألف ريال بمائة رأس شاة بعد سنة، فهذا لا يصح؛ لأن الرؤوس تختلف لا شك، حتى لو قلت: مائة رأس شاة رباعية ـ مثلاً ـ فهنا لا يصح؛ لأنه يختلف، فبعض الضأن إذا رأيت رأسه تقول: هذا رأس بقرة تقريباً، وبعضه يكون صغيراً جداً، فالمذهب لا يصح، لكن لو بعتها وزناً يجوز؛ لأن الوزن يضبطها. قوله: «والأواني المختلفة الرؤوس والأوساط كالقُماقم» القُماقم نوع من الأواني يكون أسفلها واسعاً وأعلاها ضيقاً، فالأواني قسمان: قسم مختلف الرؤوس والأوساط وهي التي تكون منتفخة في الوسط ورأسها مضموم، فهذه لا يصح السلم فيها؛ لأن الصناعة فيما سبق صناعة باليد وقل أن تنضبط الصفة، أما الآن فالصناعة بالآلات، فإذا قلت: أسلمت إليك بأوانٍ من طراز كذا وكذا فيمكن ضبطه، بل وأشد ضبطاً من المكيل والموزون، أما فيما سبق فلما كانت الأواني تصنع باليد كان ضبطها صعباً. وفهم من قوله ﵀: «المختلفة الرؤوس والأوساط» أنه لو كانت رؤوسها وأوساطها سواءٌ لجاز عقد السلم عليها؛ لأنه يمكن ضبطها، فمثلاً إذا كانت مثل العمود يمكن ضبطها بالمتر، فإذا ضبطنا أعلاها انضبط أسفلها؛ لأنها لا تختلف، أما التي تختلف فلا يجوز السلم فيها لما سبق.