What is the ruling on selling the harvest before the crop appears or before the fruit appears, and after the crop has emerged on the surface of the ground?
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The questioner : This is a message from the listener Muhammad Qasim Abu Idris, a Sudanese working in Yemen. He asks: What is the Islamic ruling on selling the harvest before the crop appears on the surface of the ground, or before the fruit appears, and after the crop has emerged on the surface of the ground? Is this permissible or forbidden?
The Shaykh : We say that this is forbidden; it is not permissible to sell the harvest until it reaches maturity and becomes strong, if it is grain, or until it ripens, if it is grapes or the like. The important point is that it must be good to eat and suitable for consumption. As for selling the harvest before that, it is forbidden. As for selling what is cut immediately, if it is ready for cutting, it is permissible to sell it, just as there may be forage sold as feed, or farms sold as feed. These are sold when it is time to cut and harvest them, and there is no harm in that. The reason the matter is this way is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade selling grain until it becomes strong and selling fruit until its goodness becomes apparent. This is because it cuts off disputes and keeps people far from litigation, since the buyer, from the moment he buys it, benefits from it and does not have to wait for anything. This is unlike selling fruit for the sake of the fruit before its goodness becomes apparent, in which case it may be afflicted by calamities that lead to disputes, litigation, and problems. This is part of the wisdom of the Shari'ah in forbidding every sale that leads to litigation, enmity, and dispute, because anything that leads to that causes a breakdown among the believers, mutual hatred, and distance between them, which contradicts the perfection of faith.
The questioner : The second question says.
The Shaykh : We say that this is forbidden; it is not permissible to sell the harvest until it reaches maturity and becomes strong, if it is grain, or until it ripens, if it is grapes or the like. The important point is that it must be good to eat and suitable for consumption. As for selling the harvest before that, it is forbidden. As for selling what is cut immediately, if it is ready for cutting, it is permissible to sell it, just as there may be forage sold as feed, or farms sold as feed. These are sold when it is time to cut and harvest them, and there is no harm in that. The reason the matter is this way is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade selling grain until it becomes strong and selling fruit until its goodness becomes apparent. This is because it cuts off disputes and keeps people far from litigation, since the buyer, from the moment he buys it, benefits from it and does not have to wait for anything. This is unlike selling fruit for the sake of the fruit before its goodness becomes apparent, in which case it may be afflicted by calamities that lead to disputes, litigation, and problems. This is part of the wisdom of the Shari'ah in forbidding every sale that leads to litigation, enmity, and dispute, because anything that leads to that causes a breakdown among the believers, mutual hatred, and distance between them, which contradicts the perfection of faith.
The questioner : The second question says.