but only to pay money; he sold in order to ward off the coercion. The reasoning is that if he were to borrow these fifty ounces from someone and pay them over, that would suffice. Thus, they say: he was not compelled to sell; rather, he was compelled only to pay fifty ounces of silver, whether he obtains them through a sale, a loan, or anything else.
But is it valid to purchase from him? Yes. If the sale is valid, then the purchase is valid.
Is it disliked to purchase from him? The jurists, may Allah have mercy on them, say that purchasing from him is disliked, because his sale is one made under necessity, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prohibited selling to one in distress (1). This man is compelled to sell. The sound view, however, is that it is not disliked, for if we were to deem it disliked, that would lead to an increase in his punishment. If we were to tell people, “Do not purchase from him,” while these people beat him morning and evening until he pays them fifty ounces of silver, the suffering of this coercion would remain with him indefinitely. The sound view, therefore, is that it is not disliked to purchase from him. Indeed, there would be grounds for saying that purchasing from him is recommended, in order to relieve him of this suffering.
As for the prohibition of selling to one in distress, it refers to a case in which a person is compelled by need to obtain something that you are obliged to provide for him, but you refuse to give it to him except by selling it to him. Thus, the verbal noun is attributed to its object, rather than to its subject.
His statement: “Whoever makes an acknowledgement during his illness, it is like his acknowledgement while in health.” Illness is of two types: an illness from which death is feared, and an illness from which death is not feared. An illness from which death is feared is one in which people would not find death surprising; the other is the opposite. For example, when a woman goes into labor, her illness is one from which death is feared, because if she were to die in that childbirth, people would not find it surprising. Likewise, a person afflicted with pleurisy, cholera, cancer, or the like: if he dies from such an illness, people would say, “This is an illness that ordinarily kills,” and would not find it surprising.
As for one whose illness is not feared—such as a slight headache, a cold, a runny nose, and the like—his legal dispositions are exactly like those of a healthy person: in acknowledgements, sales, endowments, pledges, and everything else. This is because the person making such dispositions acts while feeling that he is alive, not dead or close to death. But the one whose illness is feared is the one whose dispositions are restricted: he may not make gratuitous transfers exceeding one-third of his estate, nor may he give anything to any of his heirs, because he is legally regarded as dead. This is what is meant by the Prophet’s statement, peace and blessings be upon him: “The best charity is that which you give while you are healthy and miserly, hoping to remain alive and fearing poverty. Do not delay until the soul reaches the throat, then say, ‘Such-and-such is for so-and-so, and such-and-such is for another,’ when it already belongs to so-and-so” (2).
Thus, what the author means by his statement, “if he makes an acknowledgement during his illness,” is an illness from which death is feared, as indicated by the exception that follows.