—whether what he brings is superior to the quality stipulated, inferior, or meat that is fatter or leaner—so long as he discharges the identical measure or weight, the buyer may take possession of it. He may not, however, purchase from the seller anything at all in conjunction with that delivery, be it food or something else. It makes no difference whether the surplus the seller adds belongs to the very same genus as the commodity delivered or to another: for instance, if he brings a larger measure or weight and then offers to sell the buyer that excess, or if, together with a shortfall, he includes some other merchandise—whatever it may be, food or otherwise—the buyer is not permitted to purchase either that extra quantity or that additional article. In Malik’s view this is forbidden, for it amounts to selling food before taking possession of it and to an unequal exchange within a single edible genus.
If, on the other hand, what the seller brings to settle the debt is of the same genus and exactly the same specification as what he owes, then the buyer may, at the moment of delivery, buy from him whatever he wishes—food or otherwise—provided the item delivered matches the agreed quality, measure, and weight. Hold fast to this principle.
Whoever has made a salam for anything edible or drinkable is entitled, before the due date, to accept an item that matches the stipulated description in measure and weight; under no circumstance may he accept from the same genus something that deviates from that specification. Once the term has fallen due, he may accept from that genus an article inferior in quality or superior in measure and weight, even mutton that differs from the original in specification and weight. At maturity he may also take wheat in place of barley, barley in place of wheat or sulta, sulta in place of barley, and—if the contract was for mutton—beef, goat meat, or camel meat; anything comparable is likewise permissible once the term has matured. Yet if, in exchange for fat mutton, he takes beef or lean mutton, the transaction becomes tainted by deficiency