9- When someone sells a slave who has been entrusted with money to transact with, that money belongs to the seller—unless the purchaser stipulates, in the same deal, that all or part of it be included; in that case the money follows the slave, and the same conditions that govern other items of sale apply to it.
10- It does no harm if the slave being sold possesses something that would normally entail ribā with the purchase price—for example, if he is accompanied by silver while the price is paid in silver coins—because whatever is merely ancillary shares the ruling of its principal.
11- Shaykh al-Islām said: “Selling crops on the condition that they remain standing is impermissible by consensus of the scholars. Buying them on the condition that they be cut immediately is permissible by consensus. If they are sold without any stipulation, the majority of scholars deem the sale invalid, for the Prophet ﷺ forbade selling grain until it hardens.”
Chapter: The prohibition of the buyer’s reselling food before taking possession
First ḥadith
ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“Whoever purchases food must not sell it until he has received it in full.”
In another wording: “until he has taken possession of it.” A similar report is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās.
Explanatory notes on wording
min ibtāʿa — that is, whoever buys.
ṭaʿām — linguistically, anything that is consumed, whether eaten or drunk. Among the early generations in the Ḥijāz, however, an unqualified mention of “food” was understood to refer specifically to wheat.
General meaning
Because taking delivery of food completes the contract and perfects ownership, the Lawgiver forbade the buyer to resell it until he has taken possession of it, so that it is under his hand and control. Before delivery the food is still liable to perish while under the seller’s guarantee, and entering into a second sale beforehand could lead to the first contract’s dissolution: if the resale would bring a loss, the buyer might seek to cancel; if it would bring a profit, the seller might attempt to do so.