and level the ground, and there are several opinions concerning whether the seller must pay a fair rental fee for the period required to remove them. The soundest view is that such rent becomes due only if the removal takes place after the buyer has taken possession, not before.

When an orchard is sold, the land, the trees, and the surrounding walls are automatically included, as is any permanent building according to the established position. When a village is sold, the sale covers the buildings and the courtyards enclosed by its wall, but not the outlying farmlands, which is the sounder opinion. In the sale of a house, the land and every fixed structure are included—even a bathhouse—whereas movable items such as the bucket, pulley, or bed are not. Fixed doors together with their frames, built-in basins, the shelf, and a ladder nailed in place are all included. According to the sound view, the lower of the two millstones is likewise included; as for the upper stone and a key that is fixed in its lock, they are included according to the sounder opinion. In the sale of a beast, its shoe is included, and—according to one sound opinion—the slave’s clothes are likewise included.

I (the author) say: The sounder position is that a slave’s clothes are not included. Allah knows best.

Subsidiary ruling: When a single tree is sold, its roots and leaves are included—though with respect to mulberry leaves there is another view—as are its branches, except those that are dead. The sale is valid whether it is conditioned on uprooting, cutting, or leaving the tree in place; an unconditional sale implies that it is to remain. The sounder view is that the soil in which it is planted is not included, but the buyer is entitled to use that soil for as long as the tree remains. If the tree is dead, the buyer must remove it.

As for the fruit of date-palms that are sold, any explicit condition in favor of either party is binding. If nothing is stipulated and no pollination has yet occurred, the fruit belongs to the buyer; once pollination has taken place, it belongs to the seller. For trees whose fruit sets without a preceding blossom—such as figs and grapes—if the fruit has already appeared, it is the seller’s; if not, it is the buyer’s. For trees whose fruit first forms inside a blossom that later drops off—such as apricots and apples—the fruit belongs to the buyer so long as the fruit body has not yet formed, and, according to the sounder view, even after formation so long as the blossom has not yet fallen; once it has fallen, the fruit is the seller’s.

If someone sells certain date-palms in an orchard—some of which have merely emerged clusters while others have been pollinated—the fruit belongs to the seller. Should the unpollinated palms be singled out, their fruit goes to the buyer in the sounder view. If the palms are spread over several orchards, the sounder opinion is to treat each orchard separately.

When the fruit remains with the seller, he must harvest it if he stipulated doing so; otherwise, he may leave it until the customary time of cutting. Either party may irrigate provided that the trees and the fruit both benefit, and the other party may not prevent it. If irrigation would harm both, it is impermissible without mutual consent; if it harms one of them and they disagree, the contract is annulled unless the injured party waives his right. Another opinion holds that the party requesting irrigation may water regardless. If the fruit would absorb the tree’s moisture, the seller must either cut the fruit off or take on the irrigation himself.