the feminine ending (-ah) was appended to the word because it was treated as an independent noun, just like al-natīḥah (an animal gored to death) and al-akīlah (an animal partly devoured by predators). It was named “ʿarīyah” because it alone enjoys a special concession not granted to its “sisters.”

Overall meaning
It has already been stated that selling dates still hanging on their palms for an equal amount of dates is forbidden, for this is the sale of muzābanah that the Law prohibits; the reason is the uncertainty about the equality of the two ribā-bearing items. The prohibition is even stronger when the fruit on the palm is fresh while the payment is dried dates, for the equality is hidden on two counts: 1) the transaction rests on estimation, and 2) one portion is fresh and the other is dry. This form of sale is one variety of ribā al-faḍl.

In the early days, coins were scarce. When fresh dates appeared in Madinah and people longed to enjoy them, many lacked the cash to purchase them. A concession was therefore granted allowing them to buy the fresh dates they wished to relish with dried dates, so that they could eat them moist, provided that the two amounts would be equal were the fruit to dry out.

Points derived from the ḥadith

1. It is forbidden to sell dates still on the palm for an equal quantity of dates, because this constitutes the prohibited sale of muzābanah; the inference comes from the wording “he granted a concession.”
2. The sale of an ʿarīyah—explained earlier both linguistically and legally—is permitted as an exception to the above prohibition of muzābanah.
3. The concession is limited to those who need to eat fresh dates in particular.
4. The fresh dates on the palm must be appraised in dried dates equal to the amount given as the price.

Two additional notes
First: We have seen that the sale of muzābanah—one form of forbidden ribā—is prohibited, while the issue of ʿarāyā is excluded from that ban. Because this ruling departs from the general rule, scholars have laid down conditions for benefiting from the concession, some taken from the relevant aḥādīth and others retained from the general principles governing ribā transactions:

1. The palm must be estimated for what it will yield in dried dates, so that equivalence is ensured.
2. The concession applies only to someone who needs fresh dates to eat them in that state.

According to the well-known view in our school, the reverse situation is not allowed—namely, that a person who needs dried dates buys them with fresh dates. Another opinion, however, permits it, arguing that if a concession is given to one who merely wishes to enjoy fresh dates, how can it be withheld from someone who truly needs dried dates for sustenance?