Abbās says: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade selling foodstuffs before taking possession of them,” and, “I consider everything else to be no different from foodstuffs.”

Thus, Ibn Abbās did not permit selling goods before taking possession of them, yet he permitted selling a debt owed under a salam contract to the person who owed it, provided no profit was made. Ibn Abbās did not distinguish between foodstuffs and other goods, nor between goods sold by measure or weight and other goods. This is because the sale here is back to the seller who owes the goods, so he would be taking possession of them from himself for himself. Indeed, no taking of possession occurs here; rather, his liability is discharged. There is therefore no benefit in receiving the goods from him only to return them to him. This reflects Ibn Abbās’s understanding of the law.

Mālik treated this as equivalent to selling specifically identified goods to a third party, and therefore prohibited selling foodstuffs owed under a salam contract back to the recipient of the advance payment. Ahmad, however, did not equate this with selling foodstuffs to a third party before taking possession of them, as Mālik did. Rather, he permitted it in exchange for things other than goods sold by measure or weight, just as Ibn Abbās permitted it. As for exchanging it for goods sold by measure or weight, he disapproved of this lest it resemble exchanging measured goods for measured goods without mutual possession, since no actual exchange of possession had occurred on both sides.

However, if the creditor accepted goods of the same kind and in the same measured quantity, but of inferior quality, Ahmad permitted this, because it constitutes receiving payment in goods of the same kind, not a sale—just as one may accept inferior goods in settlement of an entitlement to superior goods. Wheat and barley may be treated as a single kind. Accordingly, there are two views reported from Ahmad concerning the permissibility of exchanging one for the other in unequal quantities:

The first is that it is prohibited, as Mālik held.