Selling Goods by Numbers and Estimate and Unknown Items

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘In the case of foodstuff of known measurement venturous estimation is not valid and it is of undesirable matters in the case of foodstuff.”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man to whom another man owes one hundred kur of dates and he has palm trees. He comes and says, ‘Give to me your palm trees for what you owe to me.’ It seemed as if he (the Imam) disliked it. I then asked about two men who have palm trees. One of them says to the other, ‘You can take the trees for such and such amount and give to me one-half more or less or I take the trees with the same condition. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), was asked about walnuts that cannot be counted. The owner weighs a certain measurement, then counts the rest according to that measurement. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who buys something which is sold by measure or weight and takes it according to that standard. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who has cattle; if he can sell their milk without measurement. He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, he can do so until it stops (coming through the udder) or something similar.’”

“I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), if milk which still is in the udder can be purchased. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, until it is milked in al-Sukurrujah (a bowl) and the seller can say, “Buy what is in al-Sukurruajah and that which is in the udder for the named price” and if there is nothing in the udder that which is in al-Sukurruajah is what is sold.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about buying a hundred Rawiyah (a certain unit of measurement) of oil, then weigh one or two Rawiyah then accept the rest according to such weighing. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who buys wool of a hundred sheep from another man and what is in their womb for so amount of dirham. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful; in case there is nothing in their womb he has his capital in the wool.’”

“I once asked abu al-Hassan, Musa (a.s.), if my buying a runaway slave-girl from a people and paying them the price but myself search to find her, is valid. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not valid unless you buy from them a certain other item, like cloths or so and say to them, “I buy your so slave- girl and this item of goods for so and so amount of dirham.” This is permissible.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), prohibited buying the net of the fisherman by saying, ‘Spread your net and whatever comes in is mine for so and so amount.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If there is a bunch of trees without reeds with a few fish taken out along with what is in the bunch of trees, it can (lawfully) be sold.’”

“About the case of a man who accepts in a transaction, in exchange for what he pays, the taxes due on non-Muslim taxpayers, taxes on palm trees, on groves, on birds and does not know if any such items exist or not, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If he knows that at least one thing of it exists that he can have, he can buy and accept the deal with it.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who buys lime. He weighs a certain portion then accepts the rest without measurement. He (the Imam) said, ‘He can accept all of it with his certification or measure all of it.��”