Book of al-Salam (Forward Sale)
It is that one pays a present consideration for a consideration described in the liability to be delivered at a specific term. It is called salam and salaf. It is said: aslama, aslafa, and sallafa. It is a type of sale; it is concluded with that by which a sale is concluded, and by the use of the term salam or salaf. The conditions considered in it are those considered in a sale. It is permissible according to the Book, the Sunnah, and consensus (ijma'). As for the Book, it is the saying of Allah the Almighty: {O you who have believed, when you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down} [Quran 2:282] (2). Sa'id narrated with his chain of narration from Ibn 'Abbas that he said: "I bear witness that the salaf (forward sale) guaranteed to a specified term is what Allah has made lawful in His Book and permitted therein," then he recited this verse. Furthermore, this wording is suitable (3) for salam and encompasses it by its generality. As for the Sunnah, Ibn 'Abbas narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he [arrived in] (4) Medina while they were conducting salaf in fruits for two or three years, so he said: "Whoever conducts a salaf in something, let him do so for a known measure and a known weight to a known term." Agreed upon (5). He also narrated...
(1) In [M]: "Chapter". This is the beginning of the fourth part of the original manuscript preserved at the Egyptian National Library under number 20, Hanbali Jurisprudence. (2) Surah al-Baqarah 282. (3) In [A]: "is valid". (4) In [M]: "that they arrived". (5) Reported by al-Bukhari, in: Chapter on Salam with Known Weight, and Chapter on Salam to a Specified Term, from the Book of Salam. Sahih al-Bukhari 3/111, 113. And Muslim, in: Chapter on Salam, from the Book of Musaqah (Sharecropping). Sahih Muslim 3/1227. It was also reported by Abu Dawud, in: Chapter on Salaf, from the Book of Sales. Sunan Abi Dawud 2/246. And al-Tirmidhi, in: Chapter on What Was Said Regarding Salaf in Food and Dates, from the Chapters on Sales. 'Aridat al-Ahwadhi 6/48. And al-Nasa'i, in: Chapter on Salaf in Fruits, from the Book of Sales. al-Mujtaba 7/255. And Ibn Majah, in: Chapter on Salaf in Known Measure..., from the Book of Trade. Sunan Ibn Majah 2/765. And Imam Ahmad, in: al-Musnad 1/222.
