prohibited when sold separately, just as gold and silk are prohibited when used on their own. What is impermissible on its own may be permissible in combination with something else. Moreover, muzābana involves exchanging fresh produce for dried produce of the same kind subject to the rules of ribā. This too is prohibited by explicit textual evidence, as is the position of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī and Ahmad. Furthermore, sales of fruit have been permitted to include produce that does not yet exist, whereas no comparable allowance has been established for muzābana. Since the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, permitted ʿarāyā sales as an exception to muzābana because of need, there is all the more reason to permit selling one variety as part of the sale of another, especially when the need for this is greater. Prohibiting something from being sold separately does not necessarily entail prohibiting its sale together with something else. Consider that an unborn animal may not be sold separately, yet selling a pregnant animal is permissible by consensus, even if its being pregnant is stipulated as a condition. There are many comparable examples in the Sharia.

The underlying wisdom of the Sharia in all this is that an act involving harm is prohibited unless that harm is outweighed by a greater benefit, as in permitting someone compelled by necessity to eat carrion. Sales involving contractual uncertainty are prohibited because they are a form of gambling that leads to the wrongful consumption of wealth. If, however, this prohibition would entail greater harm, such sales are permitted to avert the greater of two harms by tolerating the lesser. And Allah knows best.