and reduce the element of uncertainty in ʿarāyā transactions. Those conditions are:

• the dates still hanging on the palms must be exchanged for the very measure they will equal, once dried, reckoned by volume;
• the amount must be less than five wasqs—that is, less than 300 sāʿ;
• the purchaser must be in genuine need of fresh dates;
• he possesses no cash with which to buy them;
• settlement and mutual delivery must take place immediately, before the parties separate.

7 – al-mukhāḍara: the sale of fruit or grain before its ripeness becomes apparent. Al-Bukhārī and Muslim both relate from Ibn ʿUmar: “The Prophet forbade the sale of fruit until its ripeness is manifest; he forbade both the seller and the buyer.”

8 – al-mulāmasha: a transaction in which a man buys a cloth without unfolding it or seeing what is inside.

9 – al-manābadhah: a transaction in which one man simply throws his garment to another and that alone counts as a sale, without any inspection.

The Sharīʿah objection in these two types of sale is the ignorance that leads to dispute and quarrelling.

10 – al-thunyā “unless it is specified”: for example, a person says, “I sell you this tree except for some of it,” or, “I sell you this flock of sheep except for ten,” without designating which ten. Such items are unknown, and excluding an unknown quantity from something known renders what remains unknown as well. If, however, what is excluded is clearly identified, the sale is permissible.

11 – Islam is a religion of love, affection, and harmony; it disapproves of litigation, discord, enmity, and hatred, and it seeks to protect sales from harm. These and similar transactions are riddled with ambiguity, allowing one party to take advantage of the other and often ending in dispute. Islam therefore prohibited and nullified them. Furthermore, Islam is the religion of justice and equality, and such dealings result in one party wronging the other; the advantaged party oppresses