Section
The commodity stipulated in a salam must be deliverable when the time for delivery falls due. If it is found only in another town, the salam is valid provided it is customary to transport that commodity there for sale; otherwise it is invalid.

If the salam concerns something that is ordinarily available and it later disappears from the locality, the contract—according to the stronger view—is not void; the buyer (the muslim) may choose either to rescind it or to wait until the commodity becomes available again. Should he learn, before the due date, that the seller lacks the commodity, he has, on the sounder opinion, no right to cancel before that date.

The amount must be precisely known—by dry volume, weight, count, or linear measure. What is usually measured by volume may be stipulated by weight and vice-versa, but a salam for one hundred ṣāʿs of wheat on condition that they weigh such-and-such is invalid.

Water-melons, aubergines, cucumbers, quinces, and pomegranates must be specified by weight. Walnuts and almonds may be specified by weight when the particular variety shows little variation, and—on the stronger view—may likewise be specified by volume. For libn (sun-dried bricks) both number and weight must be stated.

If a particular measuring vessel is named, the contract is void unless that vessel is one in common use, in which case—on the preferred opinion—it is not void. A salam for the entire produce of a small village is invalid, whereas for that of a large village it is valid on the sounder view.

The parties must know, or record in the contract, those qualities whose variation materially affects the intended benefit, provided that doing so does not render the commodity scarce. Hence salam is invalid for goods whose intended characteristics cannot be precisely controlled, such as mixtures in which the individual ingredients are themselves sought: ḥarīsa (meat porridge), electuaries, ghāliya (perfumed musk), khuff, and compound theriac. The stronger opinion, however, permits salam in well-regulated mixtures such as ʿatabī and khazz fabrics, cheese, dried curd (aqiṭ), honey, and vinegar made from dates or raisins. According to most authorities it remains invalid for bread.

Salam is likewise invalid for items that are rarely obtainable, such as game meat in a place where wild game is scarce, or for goods that would become scarce if their description were exhaustively specified, for example large pearls, rubies, or a female slave together with her sister or her child.

Sub-issue: Salam is permissible with respect to animals. In the case of a slave one must specify his ethnic stock, such as “Turk,” his complexion, such as “white,” and qualify that whiteness as tawny or blond; one must also state the sex, age, and stature—tall or short—all in approximate terms; and it is not required