“They are neither drought-stricken palms nor palms propped up,
But palms whose fruit is given freely in years of blight.”

This resembles what is called a manīhah—a loan of livestock—as when someone gives another a she-camel or sheep so that he may drink its milk and then return it. It is a form of lending for use, as when someone lends another his house to live in and then have it returned to him.

Another example is lending a mount: someone gives another his riding animal so that he may ride on its back and then return it. This, then, is the original meaning of the term. But does the ruling on ‘arāyā sales apply only to fruit that has been given to the buyer, or does it apply both to that and to other cases? Scholars hold two opinions. The first is Mālik’s view, and the second is al-Shāfi‘ī’s. Both opinions are found within Ahmad’s school. And Allah knows best.

He was asked:

A man purchased wheat for a specified price payable at a specified time, but the owner of the wheat received nothing. He then recast the arrangement through a contract and took a property as security for it, treating the transaction as a sale and purchase under that contract. Is the sale permissible?

He replied:

If someone purchases wheat for a price payable at a later date, and the seller then takes, in place of that price, a commodity to be delivered at a later date, this is impermissible, for it is an exchange of one debt for another. Likewise,