the hadith establishes the lawfulness of salam provided these conditions are fulfilled. Ibn al-Mundhir and others have also reported the consensus of the scholars on its permissibility.

People’s need for this mode of transaction is pressing, for one of the two parties gains the advantage of receiving the price immediately, while the other benefits from paying a reduced price.

For a salam contract to be valid, it must satisfy certain conditions in addition to the general requirements of sale:

1. The commodity’s qualities must be precisely defined. If its attributes cannot be tightly specified because they vary greatly, dispute is inevitable, and the salam is invalid. Hence salam may not be concluded for items with diverse characteristics, such as fresh herbs, hides, assorted utensils, or gemstones.

2. Both the genus and the variety of the commodity must be stated: the genus, like wheat; and the variety, such as salimūni, a particular type of wheat.

3. The exact quantity must be fixed by measure, weight, or length, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever enters into a salam transaction in anything must stipulate a known measure and a known weight to a known deadline.” Agreed upon. If the amount remains unknown, precise delivery becomes impossible.

4. A specific deadline must be set, as the Prophet ﷺ required “to a known deadline,” and as Allah says, “When you contract a debt for a specified term, record it in writing” (al-Baqarah 2:282).