its usage—that is, residing in the house if the lease is for a house—because it is unknown at the time of the contract. Therefore, once he embarks upon it, it becomes specified by entering into it, and thus it becomes valid through the initial contract. If he does not embark upon it, or if he cancels the contract at the expiration of the first month, it becomes void. The rule for every subsequent month is the same. This is the school of Abu Thawr and the Ashab al-Ra'y (the Hanafi school). A similar view has been narrated from Malik, except that the lease is not binding according to him because the benefits are estimated by the estimation of the wage, so there is no need to mention the period except for the sake of it being binding. Abu Bakr 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Ja'far and Abu 'Abd Allah ibn Hamid chose the view that the contract is void. This is also the view of al-Thawri and one of the two opinions of al-Shafi'i, because every word indicating a number, if not specified, remains vague and unknown, and thus becomes invalid, just as if he had said, "I lease this to you for a period or for a month." Abu Bakr and Ibn Hamid interpreted the statement of Ahmad in this regard to mean that the lease occurred over specific months. The rationale for the first view is that 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, drew water for a man from the Jews, each bucket for a date, and he brought it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who then ate from it. 'Ali said: "I used to draw a bucket for a date, and I stipulated that it be a fresh date." Furthermore, it is narrated from a man of the Ansar that he said to a Jew: "Shall I water your palm trees?" He said: "Yes, every bucket for a date." The Ansari stipulated that he would not take it if it were khadirah (a date that falls from the palm before ripening), nor tarizah (withered/dried), nor hashaf (the poorest quality of dates), and that he would only take fresh ones. He drew water for approximately two sa', and brought it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Both were recorded by Ibn Majah in his "Sunan." This is analogous to our issue, and because his embarking upon the work in every month, along with what preceded in the contract