in His Book and has permitted it, then he recited: “O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down” (al-Baqarah 2:282).

2 – Every condition required for a normal sale is likewise required for a salam contract, for salam is simply a sale in which the price is paid at once while delivery of the commodity is deferred. Therefore, all the previously mentioned conditions of sale must be present in salam as well.

Salam, however, carries additional stipulations imposed by the Wise Lawgiver to ensure tighter safeguards. Without them, the delay in delivering the commodity, the length of the term, the precision demanded in its description, and the fact that the obligation rests on the debtor’s liability rather than on a specific item could easily lead to dispute and litigation.

3 – These further conditions include:

First: The purchase price must be received in the very session in which the contract is concluded; if the two parties part company before payment is taken, the contract is invalid. This rule is drawn from the Prophet’s wording, “They used to conduct salam, and whoever pays in advance for fruit….” Such is the linguistic meaning of salaf and salam; legally it is required so that the transaction does not become the forbidden exchange of one debt for another.

4 – Second: The amount of capital advanced in the salam must be known. This follows from the requirement that it be handed over during the contract session, for nothing can be taken possession of on the spot unless it is already determined. Since this is a condition in ordinary sales, it is even more essential here.

5 – Third: The commodity purchased must be of a type whose characteristics can be precisely specified—whether sold by volume, by weight, or by linear measure. Salam is not valid for countable items whose individual units differ, such as pomegranates, peaches, or eggs, because they vary in size; but if the units are uniform, salam is permissible. This condition is indicated in the phrase, “in a known measure.”

The Vizier said: “The scholars unanimously agree that salam is permissible in commodities sold by measure, weight, or length whose description can be firmly fixed, and they likewise agree that salam is permissible in countable items whose individual units do not vary, such as eggs and walnuts.”

6 – Fourth: The quantity must be stated by volume when the commodity is sold by measure, by weight when it is weighed, and by length when it is measured by cubits, employing a container, scale, and measuring device that are commonly recognised among