If it is in a land of Islam, then the apparent state is its permissibility, because Muslims do not approve of the sale of things whose sale is not permissible in their land in an overt manner. The second is that whose origin is permissibility, such as water one finds changed, not knowing whether it changed due to impurity or something else. It is pure according to the ruling, because the origin is purity, which does not cease except through certainty or an apparent indication, and neither of these was found. The basis for this is the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn Zayd, who said: A complaint was made to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, about a man who imagines during prayer that he has experienced something. He said: "He should not depart until he hears a sound or finds an odor." Agreed upon (53). The third is that for which no origin is known, such as a man whose wealth contains both halal and haram. This is the doubtful matter, which is better left alone, according to what we mentioned and acting upon what was narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that he found a fallen date and said: "Were I not afraid that it was from the charity, I would have eaten it" (54). This is from the category of piety (wara').
Section: Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, would not accept the grants of the Sultan and would disapprove of his son and uncle accepting them, and he was strict regarding that. Among those who did not accept them were Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, al-Qasim, [Busr] (55) ibn Sa'id, Muhammad ibn Wasi', al-Thawri, and Ibn al-Mubarak. This was done by them out of piety and precaution, not because they considered them haram, for Ahmad said: The grants of the Sultan are dearer to me than charity. He also said: There is no one among the Muslims who does not have a share in these dirhams, so how can I say that it is ill-gotten (suht)? Among those who would accept their grants were Ibn 'Umar, Ibn 'Abbas, 'A'ishah, and others from the Companions, such as al-Hasan, al-Husayn, and 'Abdullah ibn Ja'far. Al-Hasan al-Basri, Makhul, and al-Zuhri granted concessions for it.
(53) Its extraction was previously mentioned in 1/262. (54) Its extraction was previously mentioned in 4/116. Added to the extraction: al-Musnad 3/119, 132, 184, 193, 241, 258, 291, 292. (55) Omitted from the original. In M: "and Bishr". He is Busr ibn Sa'id al-Madani the ascetic, a mawla of Ibn al-Hadrami, a Tabi'i, and he was reliable and narrated many hadiths. He died in Medina in the year 100. Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1/437, 438.