from Jābir—that “the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the sale of standing crops for grain, the sale of dates on the palms for measured dried dates, sharecropping for a portion of the yield, and the purchase of fruit on date palms before it began to color. ‘Beginning to color’ means turning red or yellow, or some of it becoming fit to eat. The sale of standing crops for grain means selling a field for a known measure of foodstuff; the sale of dates on the palms for dried dates means selling them for a number of wasqs of dried dates; and sharecropping means one-third, one-quarter, and similar shares.”

Zayd said: I asked Atā, “Did you hear Jābir relate this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?” He replied, “Yes.”

Both Sahih collections also relate that Abū al-Bakhtarī said: I asked Ibn Abbās about selling the fruit of date palms, and he replied: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade its sale until some of it became fit to eat or was actually eaten, and until it was weighed.” I asked, “What does ‘weighed’ mean?” A man who was with him replied, “[Until its quantity can be estimated].”

Muslim relates that Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “[Do not purchase fruit until its ripeness becomes evident]; do not purchase fruit in exchange for dried dates.”

Ibn al-Mundhir said: “The scholars unanimously agree that selling the fruit of date palms for future years is impermissible.” They argued that if a person leases out land and trees, he has effectively sold the fruit before it has even come into existence and sold it for one or two years. This is precisely what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade. They therefore prohibited such leases categorically, consistently applying the general analogy.

Those who permit it when the fruit is only a minor component argue that a slight degree of risk is tolerated in contracts. This is comparable to purchasing date palms bearing fruit that has not yet been pollinated, or that has been pollinated but whose ripeness has not yet become evident: such a transaction is valid, even though the fruit could not validly be made the sole subject of the contract.

This argument has considerable force under the legal principles of al-Shāfiī, Ahmad, and other jurists of the—