Continuation of the explanation of the hadith: (That the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever buys food, let him not sell it until he has measured it").

The Shaykh : I think we completed the explanation in reality, did we not?
The student: We did not complete it.

The Shaykh : Well, regarding his saying: We mentioned that the word "food" is general, but "until he has measured it" specified it. With what did we specify it? With that which is measured. And here we ask: is anything else analogous to this? For example, if one sells something that is weighed, do we say "do not sell it until you weigh it"? The answer is yes. We say if a person sells something that is weighed, he should not sell it until he weighs it, because the cause is the same, which is the possibility of increase or decrease. And because the attachments of the first sale have not yet been completed, so he sells it while something from the completion of the first contract is still attached to it, which is the measuring or weighing.
Well, is what is sold by number analogous to that? For example, if I say "I sold you this apple, each one for such and such," or "this seed, each one for such and such," and I had bought it from so-and-so by number? The answer is yes, because the cause is the same. And is what is sold by length analogous to that? For example, if I sell you this bundle of ropes, each meter for such and such? The answer?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, because it requires measuring by length, it requires measuring by length.
So if someone asks, what is the cause? What is the cause? We say the scholars differed on this. Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) mentioned that the cause is that one might resort to a trick, or that it resembles selling dirhams for dirhams, selling dirhams for dirhams. If you buy it from me, the seller, and it is with me, and I have not eaten it, or weighed it, or counted it, or measured it by length, and I buy it for one hundred, then sell it to Zayd for one hundred and twenty before I take possession of it, I have not sold the commodity; the commodity is not in my hand now nor under my control. The commodity is now under the control of the seller. He says, so it is as if he sold dirhams?
The student: For dirhams.

The Shaykh : Dirhams for dirhams, as if he sold dirhams for dirhams. The dirhams that the seller gave him, or those that are established in his debt and he has not yet delivered them, and he took dirhams from the second, new buyer, as if he sold the dirhams he delivered to the seller, or those in his debt for now, for the dirhams he took from the new buyer. And for this reason he said, "those are dirhams for dirhams," so it resembles selling dirhams for dirhams, because the first buyer did not take possession of the commodity and did not measure it. This is one view. Some of them attributed the cause to the fact that the first sale has not yet been completed, because it has something of its attachments, which is? Measuring, or weighing, or counting, or measuring by length. So he has not yet been rid of the attachments of the first sale. If he sells it, he introduces a sale upon a sale.
And some of the scholars attributed the cause to the fact that the buyer might sell it for more than he bought it, as is usually the case, especially for one who buys commodities for trade; it is usually the case that he does not sell except for a profit. So if the first seller knows the buyer's profit, he might delay in delivery, and he might resort to a trick to invalidate the sale for any reason, in order to deprive the buyer of what?
The student: This profit.

The Shaykh : This profit, which is still in the possession of the seller. And this last one was the cause attributed by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. And for this reason he said that if he sold it without profit, there is no harm, or if he sold it to the seller, meaning the one who sold to him, there is no harm. But there is no doubt that this cause mentioned by Shaykh al-Islam returns to, or necessitates, specifying the general, specifying the general, because the hadith is general or Yes, in the wordings, yes. So we say the hadith is general, and specifying the general with a derived cause that the Shari'ah did not explicitly state is questionable. Why is it questionable? Because it is possible that this is not the cause, it is possible that this is not the cause, and this is a reality. And for this reason Ibn 'Abbas did not attribute the cause to this thing; he attributed it to dirhams for dirhams. And on this basis, we say that the apparent meaning of the hadith indicates that it is not permissible to sell it, neither to the seller nor to anyone else, without profit. So the hadith indicates prohibiting the sale to the seller and to anyone else, with profit and without profit.
Well, we analogized to measured food everything that is sold by weight, or sold?
The student: By number.

The Shaykh : By number, or sold by length, or not?
The student: Yes, indeed.

The Shaykh : We said that the cause is the lack of completion in both cases. But al-Bukhari and others narrated from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Or he said: Ibn 'Abbas said: So it seems that he (may Allah be pleased with him) considered the hadith general in terms of analogy. So on this basis, we say that anything sold before taking possession of it, its sale is prohibited. Yes, anything sold before taking possession of it, its sale is prohibited, whether it is sold by measuring, weighing, counting, measuring by length, or sold by any other means. And this generality is supported by what Ibn 'Umar and Zayd ibn Thabit narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) And the meaning is until they take it to a place that is not exclusive to the seller, whether their luggage or otherwise. So this hadith is general, until Ibn 'Umar said , and this indicates that nothing is sold until it is taken possession of. And this opinion is the strongest of the opinions, that all sold items are not sold until they are taken possession of, because that is further from dispute if a profit occurs, and from dispute if the seller wants to annoy the buyer and ruin his reputation among people. So that he does not sell except when he takes possession is undoubtedly more appropriate and more likely, and it is general.
And someone might ask, is the prohibition for dislike or for prohibition? We say that the fact that people are struck for it indicates?
The student: Prohibition.

The Shaykh : Prohibition, and that it is not permissible. It remains for us to say, how is taking possession done? How is taking possession done? We say some things cannot be moved, so their taking possession is by the seller relinquishing them. For example, if he sells him a piece of land, we say do not sell the land until you take it to your place?
The student: It is not possible.

The Shaykh : It is not possible. So how does he take possession of it? By relinquishing it. He says, "This is your land, take it." If he sells him a house, he relinquishes it in the same way, and the buyer takes possession of it by relinquishment and handing over the key. This is taking possession. If he sells something movable, its taking possession is by moving it, so its taking possession is by moving it. If counting, measuring by length, or weighing is required, let it be added to the taking possession, let it be added to the taking possession. So if he sells you, for example, this sack of wheat, each sa' for a dirham, and you carry the sack to your house, this is not sufficient, but it is necessary to?
The student: Measure it.

The Shaykh : Measure it, due to his saying in the hadith, this So if it does not require completion by counting, measuring by length, measuring, or weighing, then it is added to its taking possession as a condition? Completion, meaning fulfillment. And for this reason it came in some wordings from Ibn 'Abbas , meaning and when he fulfills it, the attachment of the first seller to it is severed finally, and he has no remaining attachment to it.
He said, and from him (may Allah be pleased with him) he said: Narrated by Ahmad and al-Nasa'i, and al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Hibban authenticated it. And for Abu Dawud: .
The student: The benefits.

The Shaykh : Well, we have taken the benefits that do not contradict.