in taking possession of them; in that case, he is not required to accept them, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “There is to be neither harm nor reciprocating harm.” (1)

What is the rationale behind the obligation to accept them?

The answer is that the deferment is an accommodation granted to the muslam ilayh. Thus, if he waives his right to this accommodation and says, “You set the due date in Ramadan as a concession to me, but I have now obtained what you paid in advance for; so take it,” then the other party must accept it, provided that no harm results. This serves two interests: the interest of the muslam and that of the muslam ilayh. The muslam ilayh benefits by being relieved of this debt and absolved of liability for it, while the muslam benefits because his entitlement has been delivered to him early. Whenever a person receives what is due to him ahead of time, that is to his benefit.

Third: Its quantity must be specified by a known measure, weight, or length. If a salam contract is made for a measured commodity by weight, or for a weighed commodity by measure, it is invalid.

His statement, “Third: Its quantity must be specified by a known measure, weight, or length,” means that its quantity must be stated by measure in the case of measured goods, by weight in the case of weighed goods, and by length in the case of goods sold by length. He did not mention counting, because counted goods require further detail: if the individual items vary, a salam contract for them is invalid; but if they do not vary, it is valid.

His statement, “known,” means known and commonly recognized among people, not merely known to the two contracting parties, such as the sa', mudd, ratl, wiznah, kilogram, and similar units. Thus, the phrase “known” excludes specifying it by something that is not commonly known—for example, if he says, “The contents of this vessel ten times.” This is not permissible, because it is not known among people: the vessel may be lost, and then there would be no