[Book of Salam]
[Chapter One: its Object and Conditions]
This Book is divided into three chapters:
Chapter One: on its object and its conditions.
Chapter Two: on what the party who has received the salam-price may lawfully give in lieu of the commodity for which the salam was contracted, together with the related questions of cancellation, bringing the term forward, or deferring it.
Chapter Three: on the jurists’ disagreements concerning salam.
Chapter One
On its object and its conditions
With regard to its object, they are unanimously agreed that salam is permissible in everything that is sold by measure or by weight, because of the famous ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās who said:
“The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—came to Madinah while its people were paying in advance for dates to be delivered two or three years later. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: ‘Whoever contracts a salam should do so for a specified price, a specified weight, and a specified term.’”
They likewise concur that it is invalid in what cannot be established as a liability, namely houses and real estate. As for all other goods and livestock they differed. Dāwūd and a group of Ẓāhirīs ruled it impermissible, adhering to the outward sense of this ḥadīth, whereas the majority maintain that it is lawful in commodities that can be precisely defined by description and number.
They then disagreed about objects that can only be partially controlled by description, such as livestock and slaves. Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, al-Awzāʿī, and al-Layth held that salam in these is permissible; it is also the view of Ibn ʿUmar among the Companions. Abū Ḥanīfah, al-Thawrī, and the scholars of Iraq said that salam in livestock is not permissible; this is likewise the opinion of Ibn Masʿūd, and two opinions are reported from ʿUmar on the matter.
The main proof advanced by the Iraqi scholars is the report from Ibn ʿAbbās: “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—prohibited advance payment in livestock.” The first group deem this ḥadīth weak. They may also cite his—peace be upon him—prohibition