on condition that the buyer also purchase five ardabs from him for five dirhams. This is neither lawful nor permissible.
(The fourteenth) is the same case, except that he offsets five dirhams against five of the ten dirhams owed to him, rather than paying them in cash. This involves a sale combined with a loan, because he lent him the five ardabs that the buyer took away and then returned to him, and sold him the other five ardabs for the five dirhams he will receive from him when payment falls due. The remaining five dirhams on each side are cancelled by offsetting.
(The fifteenth) is likewise the same case, except that the buyer has not taken the food away, and the seller buys back five ardabs of that very food for five dirhams. This involves exchanging dirhams and food for dirhams payable later, because it is as though he had sold him the five dirhams paid in cash, together with five ardabs, for the ten dirhams he will receive from him when payment falls due. The other five ardabs return to him unchanged and thus have no effective role in the transaction.
As for the disputed case, it is to buy back a smaller quantity of food, after the buyer has taken it away, for the same price, settled by offsetting. For example, he sells him ten ardabs for ten dirhams payable later, then, after the buyer has taken the food away, buys five ardabs from him for ten dirhams, offset against the ten dirhams owed to him as the price of the food. This involves taking food in settlement of the price of food, because he sold him ten ardabs and then took five ardabs from him as their price. On one occasion, Mālik—may Allah be pleased with him—disapproved of this, regarding the five ardabs as the price of the ten ardabs: it was as though he had given him five ardabs on condition that he assume liability for the other five until the due date. On another occasion, he took a more lenient view, considering the grounds for suspicion remote, since few people would deliberately pursue such an arrangement.
Section
Explaining the thirteen impermissible cases among the eighteen arising when payment for the repurchase is deferred beyond the original due date, and the grounds for their impermissibility
(The first) is to buy back a smaller quantity for the same price, after the buyer has taken the food away, with payment deferred beyond the original due date. An example is that he sells