there is no harm in selling dates to someone who will use them to make an intoxicant. Al-Thawri said: Sell the lawful to whomever you wish. They argued for this position using the words of Allah Almighty: {But Allah has permitted trade} [2:275]. Also, the sale is completed by its pillars and conditions. Our position is the statement of Allah Almighty: {And do not cooperate in sin and aggression} [5:2]. This is a prohibition that necessitates unlawfulness. It is narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he cursed ten categories regarding wine. Ibn Abbas narrated that Jibril came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: O Muhammad, indeed Allah has cursed wine, its presser, the one for whom it is pressed, its carrier, the one for whom it is carried, its drinker, its seller, its buyer, and its server. He indicated every assistant to it and helper in it. This hadith was recorded by al-Tirmidhi [4], through the hadith of Anas, who said: This hadith has been narrated from Ibn Abbas [5] and Ibn Umar [6] from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Ibn Battah narrated in [his book] Tahrim al-Nabidh, with his chain of narration, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, that an overseer for Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas on some land of his informed him about [some] grapes that were not suitable for raisins and not suitable for sale except to someone who would press them [into wine], so he ordered that they be uprooted and said: What a wretched elder I would be if I sold wine [7]. This is because he enters into a contract regarding it with one whom he knows intends to use it for an act of disobedience, so it is like leasing his slave girl to one whom he knows intends to lease her to commit adultery with her. The [general] verse is restricted by many specific cases, and thus the subject of dispute is restricted from it by our evidence. As for their argument that 'the sale is completed with its conditions and pillars,' we say: But there exists an impediment to it. If this is established, then the sale is prohibited and invalid [only] if the seller knows of the buyer's intention for that, either through the buyer's own words or through circumstances specific to him that indicate that. However, if the matter is ambiguous—such as if he sells them to someone whose state he does not know, or to someone who makes both vinegar and wine, and he has not uttered what indicates the intention for wine—then the sale is permissible. If the prohibition is established, the sale is invalid; it is also possible that it is valid, which is the school of al-Shafi'i, because what is prohibited in that is the intention behind the contract, not the contract itself, so it does not prevent the validity of the contract, just as if one were to conceal a defect. Our position is that he entered into a contract for an object for the purpose of disobeying Allah, so it is not valid, like leasing a slave girl for adultery or singing. As for concealment of a defect, the prohibition is on the act [of concealment], not the contract. Furthermore, since the prohibition here is for the right of Allah Almighty, it invalidates the contract, like selling a dirham for two dirhams, and it differs from concealing a defect, as the latter is for the right of a human being.