Chapter: The Regulations of Salam (Forward Sale)

Salam—also called salaf—is a transaction in which the price is paid immediately while delivery of the commodity is deferred. The jurists define it as: “a contract for a specified item described by its qualities, the liability for which is deferred to a fixed term, with the full price taken on the spot during the contract session.”

This mode of dealing is lawful by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the scholars.

Allah the Exalted says, “O you who believe, when you contract a debt for a specified term, record it in writing” (al-Baqarah 2:282).

Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them) said, “I testify that the guaranteed salam to a named term has been made lawful by Allah in His Book and that He has permitted it,” after which he recited the verse.

When the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah, its people were conducting salam in fruits for one, two, and three years. He said, “Whoever enters into a salam transaction in anything”—in another wording, “in fruit”—“let him stipulate a known measure and a known weight to a known deadline.” Agreed upon. This shows that