The ruling on selling a heap of food when its quantity is unknown
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Question: If a heap of food is sold at one riyal per sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg), with an additional ten riyals for the entire heap, and the heap is unknown in quantity, does this constitute the sale of an unknown item or not? And if people are transacting in this manner, should they be prohibited from doing so or not?
Answer: If a heap of food is sold at one riyal per sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg), with an additional ten riyals for the entire heap, and the heap is unknown in quantity, then the sale is valid and is not of the sale of an unknown item which is not permissible; because the item being sold is known by visual inspection, and the price is considered known.
And what indicates this is that 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) hired himself out to a woman on the condition that he would draw water for her from a well, with each bucket costing one date. He drew sixteen buckets, and she counted out sixteen dates for him. He then came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him, and he ate from them.
The hadith was narrated by Ahmad, and al-Shawkani said in *Nail al-Awtar*: "The Hafiz—meaning Ibn Hajar—graded its chain as good, and Ibn Majah narrated it with a chain that Ibn al-Sakun authenticated." End of quote.
And regarding the permissibility of selling a heap, with each qafiz costing one dirham, the Imams said: Ahmad, Malik, al-Shafi'i, and Abu Yusuf and Muhammad—the two companions of Abu Hanifa—(may Allah have mercy on them).
And because the original ruling in transactions is validity, so nothing is invalidated except what there is evidence for its invalidity. And this transaction does not contain excessive uncertainty (gharar) or anything that necessitates its invalidity, so it must be valid. And success is from Allah.
Answer: If a heap of food is sold at one riyal per sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg), with an additional ten riyals for the entire heap, and the heap is unknown in quantity, then the sale is valid and is not of the sale of an unknown item which is not permissible; because the item being sold is known by visual inspection, and the price is considered known.
And what indicates this is that 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) hired himself out to a woman on the condition that he would draw water for her from a well, with each bucket costing one date. He drew sixteen buckets, and she counted out sixteen dates for him. He then came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him, and he ate from them.
The hadith was narrated by Ahmad, and al-Shawkani said in *Nail al-Awtar*: "The Hafiz—meaning Ibn Hajar—graded its chain as good, and Ibn Majah narrated it with a chain that Ibn al-Sakun authenticated." End of quote.
And regarding the permissibility of selling a heap, with each qafiz costing one dirham, the Imams said: Ahmad, Malik, al-Shafi'i, and Abu Yusuf and Muhammad—the two companions of Abu Hanifa—(may Allah have mercy on them).
And because the original ruling in transactions is validity, so nothing is invalidated except what there is evidence for its invalidity. And this transaction does not contain excessive uncertainty (gharar) or anything that necessitates its invalidity, so it must be valid. And success is from Allah.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.