And His saying, Exalted is He:

“Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury.”

[Surah al-Baqara: 275]

This was intended to distinguish trade from usury, in that the former is lawful and the latter unlawful. It was not intended to explain what may or may not be sold. Its general wording therefore cannot be cited as evidence that everything may be sold. Anyone who supposes that the words “Allah has permitted trade” encompass the sale of carrion, swine, wine, dogs, a slave woman who has borne her master a child, endowed property, another person’s property, fruit before its ripeness becomes evident, and similar things is mistaken.

The eighth response (1) is this: Suppose, for argument’s sake, that the wording of the verse is general. A child who is a disbeliever, a slave, and a killer have nevertheless been excluded from its scope by evidence weaker than that which establishes the Prophet’s exclusion from it—peace and blessings be upon him. Indeed, the Companions who reported from him (2) that no one inherits from him were more numerous and more eminent than those who reported from him that a Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever; that a killer has no share of inheritance; and that whoever sells a slave who possesses property, that property belongs to the seller unless the buyer stipulates (3) that it be included.

In sum, if the verse has already been restricted by an explicit text or consensus, then, by the agreement of Muslim scholars, it may be further restricted by another explicit text. Indeed, (4) one group has held that a general expression, once restricted, remains indeterminate. Scholars have differed over restricting (5) the general purport of the Quran