your quarters, for the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, commanded us to do so (7). Once this is established, taking possession of it is by moving it, as it came in (8) the report. Furthermore, if taking possession was not defined in the Sharia, it would be necessary to return it to custom, as we said regarding reclamation and acquisition, and the custom for taking possession of a pile (9) is moving it.
Section: It is not lawful for the seller of the pile to deceive regarding it, by placing it on a platform, a mound, or a stone that diminishes it, or by placing the bad [quality] in its interior or the wet [parts], and the like; because of what Abu Hurayrah narrated, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passed by a pile of food, so he inserted his hand (10) into it, and his fingers felt moisture. He said: "O owner of the food, what is this?" He said: The sky (rain) afflicted it, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Why did you not put it on top of the food so that people could see it?" Then he said: "Whoever deceives us is not of us" (11). Al-Tirmidhi said: This is a hasan sahih hadith. If such is found, and the purchaser was not aware of it, he has the option between dissolution and taking the difference in value between the two; because it is a defect. If a hole is revealed underneath it, or its interior is found to be better than its exterior, the purchaser has no option, because it is an increase for him. If the seller knew of that, he has no option, because he entered into it with insight. If he did not know, he has the right of dissolution, just as if he sold it for twenty dirhams and weighed it with a weight, then found the weight to be excessive; he would have the right of recourse. The same applies if he sold it by a measure, then found it to be excessive. It is possible that he has no option, because the apparent case is that he sold what he knew, so dissolution is not established for him by mere possibility.
737 - Issue; He said: (And whoever knows the quantity of a thing, he shall not sell it as a pile.)
Ahmad explicitly stated this in several places, and it was deemed disliked by Ata, Ibn Sirin, and Mujahid,
(7) Narrated by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on selling food before it is taken possession of, from the Book of Sales. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/252, 253. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 5/191. (8) Omitted from: the original. (9) In the original: "al-sabir". (10) In the original: "asba'uhu" (his finger). (11) Its verification has preceded on page 111.