of the two transacting parties, so his stipulation of the fruit is valid, just like the buyer. The basis has been established by agreement and by his saying, peace be upon him: "Unless the buyer stipulates it." If one of them stipulates a known part of the fruit, it is like stipulating all of it in terms of permissibility, according to the opinion of the majority of jurists and the opinion of Ashhab from the companions of Malik. Ibn al-Qasim said: It is not permissible to stipulate a part of it, because the report (hadith) only came regarding the stipulation of all of it. Our evidence is that whatever is permissible to stipulate in its entirety, it is permissible to stipulate a part of it, just like the period of option (khiyar), and likewise is the statement regarding the slave's wealth if he stipulates a part of it.

Third Section: When the fruit remains for the seller, he is allowed to leave it on the trees until the time of harvesting, whether he became entitled to it through his stipulation or through its appearance. This is the opinion of Malik and al-Shafi'i. Abu Hanifa said: He is obligated to cut it and clear the palm trees of it, because it is sold property occupied by the seller's ownership, so it must be moved and cleared, just as if he sold a house containing food or his belongings. Our evidence is that the moving and clearing of sold items is according to custom and habit, just as if one sold a house containing food, it is not obligatory to move it except according to the custom in that regard, which is that he moves it during the day, bit by bit, and he is not required to move it at night nor to assemble all the town's beasts of burden to move it. Likewise here, he clears the palm trees of the fruit at the time of their clearing, which is the time of their harvest, and this analogy is a proof for us because of what we have explained. Once this is established, the reference point for harvesting it is what is customary. If the item sold is a palm tree, then it is when the sweetness of its fruit reaches its end, unless it is of the kind whose busr (unripe yellow/red dates) is better than its rutab (fresh moist dates), or where the custom is to harvest it as busr, in which case he harvests it when the sweetness of its busr matures, because this is the custom. Once its sweetness has matured, he is obligated to move it. If it is said that leaving it on its trees is better for it and more lasting, he is still obligated to move it, because the custom for moving it has been fulfilled, and he has no right to leave it after that. If the sold item...