to sell it spot-for-spot for gold. Likewise, if the silver content amounts to one third or less, he sees no objection to selling it hand-to-hand for silver. Now, if an article that contains gold may lawfully be sold for gold in the manner we have set out, its permissibility is all the more evident; and by the same token, if an article that contains silver may be sold for silver, selling it for gold is even more permissible, provided the exchange is immediate on both sides.
If the exact amount of gold and silver in the ornament is unknown, the parts must be separated: the gold is sold for silver on the spot, the silver for gold on the spot, and the jewels for either gold or silver—whether prompt or deferred—just like any other commodity; alternatively, the whole piece may be sold, without separating the components, for any other merchandise, payable either immediately or on credit.
Ibn al-Qāsim reports that whenever gold and silver are found together in a single ornament, that ornament is not to be sold for either gold or silver, but only for something else, whether or not the precious metals are merely ancillary. According to Ibn al-Qāsim and the other Mālikīs of Egypt, a saddle and its bridle are not placed on the same footing as the Qurʾān codex, the sword, and the ring; they attribute this view to Mālik. Abū al-Faraj, however, transmits that Mālik’s ruling on the bridle and the saddle is identical to his ruling on the sword, the codex, and the ring.
As for vessels made of gold or silver, it is unlawful to keep them; they must be broken up and sold in accordance with the rules governing currency exchange and equal measure that we have already mentioned.
Among the scholars of Medina there are those who treat any amount less than one third of the total value— in the cases of the sword, the ring, and the codex— as inconsequential, and therefore allow a deferred sale; this is the view of Rabīʿa. Others do not regard it as trivial unless it is utterly negligible and contemptible, having no appreciable worth or intent, and they too permit deferred payment when that is the case. Still others forbid selling anything that contains silver for silver— even a single grain— and likewise forbid selling anything that contains gold for gold, until the piece is dismantled and sold weight-for-weight, or else sold for other goods. Their fundamental principle in this matter is that any sale—