Section: If he says, "If you sew this garment today, you shall have one dirham, but if you sew it tomorrow, you shall have half a dirham," there are two narrations from Ahmad regarding this. The first is that it is invalid, and he is entitled to the fair wage (ajr al-mithl). This was narrated by Abu al-Harith from Ahmad, and this is the school of Malik, al-Thawri, al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, and Abu Thawr; because it is a single contract where the compensation differs based on the timing (the precedence or postponement), so it is not valid, just as if he said, "I sold this to you for a dirham in cash or two dirhams on credit." The second narration is that it is valid. This is the opinion of al-Harith al-'Ukli, Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad, because he specified a known compensation for each labor, so it is valid, just as if he said, "Every bucket for a date." Abu Hanifa said: If he sews it today, he receives a dirham, and if he sews it tomorrow, it shall not be increased beyond a dirham nor decreased below half a dirham; because the lessor has assigned him half a dirham, so it cannot be reduced from that, and he has consented to a dirham for the larger of the two labors, so it cannot be increased beyond that. This is not correct; because if the contract is valid, he is entitled to the specified amount, and if it is invalid, its existence is as if it were non-existent, and the fair wage is due, as in all invalid contracts.

Section: If he says, "If you sew it in the Roman style, you shall have a dirham, and if you sew it in the Persian style, you shall have half a dirham," there are two views regarding this, built upon the previous issue. The disagreement regarding it is like the one before it, except that Abu Hanifa agreed with his two companions regarding the validity in this case. Our position is that this is a contract of exchange in which neither the compensation nor the compensated item is defined, so it is not valid, just as if he said, "I sold you this for a dirham, or this for two dirhams." This differs from the case of "every bucket for a date" from two aspects: First, the second labor is added to the first labor, and for each of them there is a set compensation, so it resembles one saying, "I sold you this heap (subra), every qafiz for a dirham." In this case, the tailoring is a single act for which he stipulated one compensation if it is found in one form and another compensation if it is found in another, so it resembles one selling it for ten intact coins or eleven broken ones. Second, he made the lease dependent on a condition by his saying: "If you sew it such-and-such, you have such-and-such; and if you sew it such-and-such, you have such-and-such," unlike his saying: "Every bucket for a date."