—then the zakat remains the seller’s responsibility. He must set aside for the poor a quantity equal to the crop’s tithe, measured wherever he chooses. The sale itself is valid; Mālik held no other opinion, and the majority of his companions concur. The seller must also ask the buyer how much has actually been harvested so that he can pay zakat on that amount.

It is not permissible to sell a crop that is still standing, whether green or as freekeh, unless the contract stipulates that it be cut immediately. If someone buys land in which an unripe crop is growing, the zakat is due from the purchaser; if he tries to shift it to the seller, the condition is invalid.

Even when the crop may lawfully be sold because it is close to harvest and no longer needs irrigation, the seller may stipulate that the buyer assume its zakat, and the condition is valid—so long as the contract concerns the crop alone. If, however, the crop is included only because the buyer insisted on taking it together with the land, Mālik and his companions differ. My view is that such a condition is invalid, for it involves uncertainty and risk. Ibn al-Qāsim considers it a stipulation affecting only part of the crop or fruit, and therefore impermissible, whereas Ashhab and others allow it.

When fava beans, chickpeas, or grass peas are sold while still green, one estimates what their weight would be when dry and pays zakat on that amount as grain. The same estimate is made for any portion eaten green, and its zakat is likewise paid. Whatever the beasts of burden or cattle consume during threshing or at any other time is not counted against the owner.

Success lies with Allah.