Combining the prohibition of selling fruit before it ripens with the permissibility of Salam
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh! How do we reconcile the prohibition of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on selling dates until their ripeness becomes apparent, with its permissibility for Salam with the people of Madinah?
Answer:
Salam is an independent contract, not a sale; that is, a contract to adjust the price and defer the payment. In Salam, there is nothing specific; there is no specific fruit, but rather food, dates, wheat, or barley that is not specific, though it is described by its attributes only. As for selling fruit, it is a specific fruit. It is not permissible to sell a specific fruit before three conditions are met, yes, because it may die; this specific one may be destroyed. But as for what is not specific, this is Salam, but it requires that it be delivered as Salam. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh! How do we reconcile the prohibition of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on selling dates until their ripeness becomes apparent, with its permissibility for Salam with the people of Madinah?
Answer:
Salam is an independent contract, not a sale; that is, a contract to adjust the price and defer the payment. In Salam, there is nothing specific; there is no specific fruit, but rather food, dates, wheat, or barley that is not specific, though it is described by its attributes only. As for selling fruit, it is a specific fruit. It is not permissible to sell a specific fruit before three conditions are met, yes, because it may die; this specific one may be destroyed. But as for what is not specific, this is Salam, but it requires that it be delivered as Salam. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، باب القسم — islamhouse.com (1:12:06)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.