about selling fruit before it ripens?

The questioner : Professor, we need to return to a topic regarding, for example, deferred sales; for example, a merchant who took on this deferred sale after he saw the fruit, but if he bought it and paid for it, and then you find that the period until this fruit is harvested, and this fruit is all destroyed; on whom does this loss fall, Professor?

The Shaykh : ... .

Another questioner : Did it not bear good fruit?

The questioner : No, when he bought it, the fruit was ripe, but you know that many merchants, for example, do not sell the orchards all at once; they might sell according to the market demand; naturally, it was destroyed in the process of...

The Shaykh : How was it destroyed? What do you mean by destroyed?

The questioner : I mean a disease came upon it.

The Shaykh : A disease; in the authentic hadiths, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade selling fruit before its ripening begins; so this guarantee is not permissible except after the safety from spoilage.

Another questioner : Safety.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : So that it is safe, meaning.

The Shaykh : Yes, except after the guarantee and assurance of the safety of the fruit that was bought; so if it was bought before the guarantee against spoilage, and then the fruit was affected, the loss returns to the seller; ...?

The questioner : Yes, Professor.

The Shaykh : This is in authentic hadiths regarding that, and this situation is expressed by the phrase "placing the calamities," calamities being the plural of calamity, and a calamity is...