Book of Gharar (Uncertainty in Sales)

Reports concerning sales involving uncertainty, with an explanation of their forms and rulings: It is established that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “forbade sales involving uncertainty.” A sale involving uncertainty is one in which uncertainty is so extensive and predominant that it characterizes the transaction. For when something admits of two descriptions, it is not characterized by one rather than the other unless that description is more particularly applicable to it and predominates.

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The forms of uncertainty in sales are too numerous to count. They include selling a runaway slave, a stray camel, or a fetus in its mother’s womb. They also include the sales by touching and by tossing that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade. A sale by touching occurs when a man touches a garment without looking at it or examining its features, or buys it at night without inspecting it. A sale by tossing occurs when one man tosses his garment to another, and the other tosses his garment to him, without either examining them, each saying, “This in exchange for that.” These are the sales by touching and by tossing that were forbidden. Other examples include his prohibition, peace and blessings be upon him, of selling al-madāmīn and al-malāqīh,