“Absent goods may not be sold on the basis of a description, because they are neither a specific item that has been seen nor goods of a guaranteed description owed as an obligation.” This is also contrary to Abū Hanīfah—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—who held that purchasing absent goods is permissible, whether or not they are described, and that the buyer has the option to rescind the sale upon seeing them. A similar opinion has also been reported from al-Shāfi‘ī—may Allah Most High have mercy on him.
The correct position is that held by Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—and all his followers: purchasing absent goods on the basis of a description is permissible, and the purchase is binding on the buyer if the goods match their description, because a description takes the place of seeing the item described. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “A woman must not describe another woman to her husband so that it is as though he were looking at her,” or words to that effect. He thus likened a vivid description to seeing.
Allah, Blessed and Exalted, says:
“And when there came to them a Book from Allah confirming what was with them—although before that they used to pray for victory over those who disbelieved—when there came to them what they recognized, they disbelieved in it. So may the curse of Allah be upon the disbelievers.” [al-Baqarah: 89]
The evidence in this verse is that the Jews used to find the Prophet’s description and attributes in the Torah. They would relate these and invoke him in seeking victory over those who disbelieved—that is, they sought victory through him over the unbelieving Arabs. They would say: “O Allah, send this prophet who will kill the Arabs and humble them,” because they hoped that he would be one of their own. But when Allah Most High raised him from among the Arabs rather than from among them, they envied him and disbelieved in him.
Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal and Bishr ibn al-Barā’ ibn Ma‘rūr said to them: “O Jews, fear Allah and embrace Islam! You used to invoke Muhammad in seeking victory over us when we were polytheists. You would tell us that he would be sent and describe his attributes to us.” They replied: “He has brought us nothing that we recognize, and he is not the one we used to tell you about.” Allah, Almighty and Majestic, then revealed in His Book a refutation of their claim, saying:
“When there came to them what they recognized, they disbelieved in it.” [al-Baqarah: 89]
Since Allah Most High said, “When there came to them what they recognized” [al-Baqarah: 89], although they had previously known him only through the description they found in the Torah, this indicates that knowing something through its description amounts to knowing the particular thing described. This is precisely the point we sought to establish. And in what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in