Fabric measurements, variability in precious stones, known brick moulds, and the governing rule of specification Read the bilingual lesson for Bab al-Salam: Fabric, Gems, Bricks and Precise Specification and test your understanding with a focused quiz.
Lesson
1. Beginning with salam in fabric
ويجوز السلم في الثياب
Translation: Salam is permissible in textiles.
The previous level established the general requirements of salam. The text now considers goods whose value cannot be settled by count or weight alone: length, width, grade and construction may be decisive. Fabric is the leading example.
Suppose a buyer advances Rs 60,000 for 20 rolls of cloth due after 2 months. Merely saying “20 rolls” leaves material uncertainty if the length, width or weave of each roll remains open.
2. Specifying length and width
إذا سمى طولا وعرضا
Translation: When its length and width are specified.
Two dimensions matter independently: tul (length) and ard (width). Two pieces of identical length can differ substantially in usable surface area and price if their widths differ.
For example, specifying “each roll is 25 metres long and 1.5 metres wide” removes an important uncertainty. A recognized, reproducible measuring unit is necessary; an unidentified private measuring stick would recreate the very uncertainty salam is meant to prevent.
3. Meaning of raqah and the piece of cloth
ورقعة
Translation: And the extent of the fabric piece is specified.
Quduri also requires identification of the raqah. Here it concerns the extent or size of the fabric piece, not merely a repair patch sewn onto cloth. Fath al-Qadir explicitly explains the term in relation to quantity or extent.
If an agreement calls for 30 cut pieces of a particular size, the extent of each piece must be intelligible to both sides. Stating a total length while leaving the number and dimensions of the actual pieces disputed may not secure a determinate subject matter.
4. Dimensions alone may not suffice
Length, width and piece size alone do not make coarse low-grade cloth equivalent to fine cloth of a valuable weave. The standing salam condition that quality be specified still governs this case. Fibre type, weave, thickness, colour or commercial grade may need identification when they materially affect what is delivered.
Thus “25 metres of cloth, 1.5 metres wide” is less determinate than a fabric of the same measurements with a known cotton grade and an agreed weave.
5. A worked cloth-salam agreement
An illustrative validly specified transaction would record:
1. Price: Rs 90,000 paid fully at the meeting.
2. Goods: 30 rolls of an agreed grade of cotton cloth.
3. Per roll: 20 metres long and 1.4 metres wide.
4. Weave and thickness: a commercially recognizable, agreed specification.
5. Delivery: a fixed date and, where legally required, a known place.
Each specification serves a distinct purpose. Leaving an important feature uncertain can reopen the risk of dispute.
6. Weight in silk and weight-sensitive textiles
Fath al-Qadir discusses weight as a material attribute of certain silk and other textiles whose market value depends on heaviness or lightness. This is an elaboration from the commentary, not a word silently inserted into Quduri's concise clause.
Two silk rolls might match in length and width yet differ materially in weight and price. If weight is a decisive commercial characteristic, a contract fixing only the dimensions can leave a significant point unresolved.
7. The method of measurement matters
Cloth measured under strong tension may register a different length from cloth allowed to sag excessively. The commentaries discuss moderate measurement rather than unusual stretching or slackening.
If a delivery promises 20 metres, the seller cannot satisfy the quantity merely by stretching the fabric beyond an ordinary measuring state. The aim is a repeatable and fair measurement, not just stating the name of a unit while using it inconsistently.
8. Why cloth can be described rather than individually selected
Salam creates an obligation to supply goods defined in the seller's liability by reproducible specifications, not a claim to one uniquely identified extant fabric piece. Where equivalent cloth can ordinarily be supplied to the agreed specification, the form makes commercial sense.
A demand for one irreplaceable antique textile is different: no stable equivalent can be supplied by description alone. Calling that bargain “salam” does not automatically make its subject matter sufficiently determined.
9. Why the text excludes gemstones
ولا يجوز السلم في الجواهر
Translation: Salam is not permitted in gemstones.
Quduri excludes gemstones from salam. Two stones with the same weight may vary dramatically in clarity, colour, shape, flaws and value. The qualities distinguishing individual stones may resist sufficiently reliable description.
A promise to deliver “one high-grade stone of this weight after 3 months” might appear quantitatively precise while still leaving material qualitative uncertainty. The stated classical rule addresses that uncertainty, not a general assertion that all precious stones are intrinsically unlawful objects.
10. Present sale of an identified gem is different
A salam obligation concerns future delivery of non-identified units; a sale of a particular identified object concerns something individually known at the time of contracting. The objection to salam in gemstones therefore does not imply that every ordinary sale of an identified precious stone is prohibited on that same basis.
Purchasing a specific stone after inspecting it differs from demanding some unspecified “equivalent stone” several months later. Legal analysis must keep the two transaction types distinct.
11. Substantial variation among beads
ولا في الخرز
Translation: Nor is salam permitted in beads under this ruling.
Quduri also mentions kharaz, decorative beads whose individual shapes, finishes or values may vary materially. A contract for “100 beads” can therefore fail to define adequately what grade and character of article must be delivered.
The operative concern is significant disparity among units, not mere smallness or decorative use. Classical commentaries separately consider some small particles of precious material traded by weight, demonstrating that the reasoning turns on how adequately the goods can be measured and described.
12. A limited discussion of small weighed particles
Fath al-Qadir discusses a restricted case of tiny pearls or comparable particles traded by weight for which a different conclusion can arise. That detail belongs to the commentary; it is not an exception silently written into Quduri's brief general sentence.
It would be unsound to infer that every modern cut diamond automatically meets this test. A particular commodity must first be assessed for whether the commercially significant qualitative and quantitative differences can actually be controlled by specification.
13. Salam in unbaked and baked bricks
ولا بأس بالسلم في اللبن والآجر
Translation: There is no objection to salam in unbaked and baked bricks.
Quduri allows salam in labin (commonly an unbaked clay brick) and ajurr (a fired brick) when a known mould is specified. Bricks can be supplied in countable, approximately uniform units when their dimensions and relevant commercial qualities are sufficiently determined.
For example, a promise of 5,000 bricks after 60 days should identify their standard size and meaningful grade rather than assuming that all bricks are commercially interchangeable.
14. Milban: identifying the mould
إذا سمى ملبنا معلوما
Translation: Provided a known brick mould is specified.
A milban is a brick-making mould. Quduri requires the mould to be known so the resulting units have reproducible dimensions. Al-Lubab explains this by specifying length, width and thickness.
An illustrative description is a brick 9 inches long, 4.5 inches wide and 3 inches thick, together with any relevant grade. Merely referring to a particular craftsman's unidentified mould does not achieve the same clarity if its dimensions are not known.
15. Why all three brick dimensions matter
Bricks may match in face length and width but vary in thickness, changing both material volume and practical suitability for construction. The commentaries accordingly treat thickness as a relevant part of identifying the mould's product.
Imagine two bricks with a 9 by 4.5 inch face, one 2 inches thick and the other 3 inches thick. The two are not equivalent by volume; delivering the thinner one does not satisfy a contract calling for the thicker specification.
16. Count and grade must work together
The known-mould condition does not mean that count and dimensions always suffice irrespective of significant differences in firing or material quality. Salam still demands an intelligible agreed description.
A buyer advances the full price for 10,000 well-fired bricks of a recognized grade. Delivering the right number and size of weak, poorly fired bricks would not satisfy the bargain merely because the counted units match: the agreed commercial quality matters too.
17. The general governing principle
وكل ما أمكن ضبط صفته ومعرفة مقداره جاز السلم فيه
Translation: Salam is permissible in whatever can be adequately specified in quality and quantity.
After the particular examples, Quduri states a general controlling principle: salam is permissible where the material attributes can be fixed reliably and the quantity can be determined. The principle explains the individual commodity rulings rather than replacing them.
Two distinct questions must be answered:
1. What kind of goods are owed? This concerns quality and description.
2. How much is owed? This concerns quantity.
Failure to settle either essential point can defeat a determinate obligation.
18. When description or quantity cannot be controlled
وما لا يمكن ضبط صفته ولا يعرف مقداره لا يجوز السلم فيه
Translation: Salam is not valid where attributes cannot be specified and quantity cannot be determined.
The converse is that salam fails where substantial variation cannot be controlled through adequate description and quantity. “One rare gemstone of some suitable quality later” may leave both the item's identity and its defining characteristics uncertain.
This is more than memorizing an inventory of prohibited names. The practical question is whether, on the delivery date, both parties can identify the same objectively specified goods without having to negotiate basic terms again.
19. Contrasting determinate and indeterminate bargains
Compare two agreements:
1. “Deliver 100 pieces of cloth in 3 months,” with no clear size or grade. The intended goods are insufficiently defined.
2. “Deliver 100 pieces of the agreed size and grade in 3 months,” with full advance payment. This is far more determinate and may qualify if the remaining salam requirements are satisfied.
Advance payment alone never cures ambiguity. Specified goods, known quantity and the other legal conditions work together.
20. Careful application to modern manufactured goods
The rule helps analyze modern standardized products, but similarity does not by itself settle a new product's legal status. One must first determine whether interchangeable units are genuinely deliverable according to objective grade, quantity and agreed time.
An order for a large quantity of standardized screws is structurally different from commissioning one unique handmade artwork. The possibility of reliably describing and replacing each unit is part of the analysis; further contractual conditions must still be checked.
21. Classification and contract conditions are distinct
A crucial distinction remains: a commodity may be eligible for salam in principle while a particular bargain in that commodity may still be invalid because another contractual requirement is not fulfilled.
Cloth and bricks may qualify when adequately defined. Yet a contract with no fixed delivery date, or without the required receipt of the full advance price at the sitting, can fail independently. Eligibility of the goods is not a blanket approval of every arrangement involving them.
22. Reasoning through three transactions
Case 1: 500 bricks of a known mould due in 4 months, fully paid now. With grade, count and mould known, the commodity may support a valid salam agreement.
Case 2: “one fine gemstone” after 4 months. Material differences between stones cannot be settled through such a general description in the classical ruling.
Case 3: 50 cotton rolls after 4 months, but width is not set. A material dimension remains unagreed and the promised subject is inadequately determined.
23. Concluding the salam section
The conclusions of this portion are:
1. Fabric must have determinate length, width, piece size and relevant grade.
2. Classical gemstones and beads are excluded because of material individual disparity; commentaries discuss limited weighed-particle cases separately.
3. Brick salam requires a known mould, count and commercially material characteristics.
4. The controlling criterion is determinate description and quantity.
5. All these commodity rulings operate alongside the previous level's requirements, including the advance price and specified delivery date.
Practice questions
Question 1
Which dimensions does Quduri require for salam in cloth?
- Only colour and price
- Only fabric weight
- Length, width and piece extent
- Only the number of rolls
Question 2
A roll is 25 m long but its width is unknown. What is the key defect?
- Only the price may need adjustment
- A material dimension remains unknown
- Only the weave is unknown
- Only the roll count needs elaboration
Question 3
What is the relevant meaning of raqah here?
- Always a repair patch
- The kind of weave
- The colour and pattern of cloth
- The extent or size of the fabric piece
Question 4
Which addition better specifies salam for 20 fabric rolls?
- Known grade, weave and size of each roll
- Only the total price per roll
- Only a specified delivery date
- Only the generic type: cloth
Question 5
Which further attribute of silk is discussed in Fath al-Qadir?
- Weight being immaterial if colour varies
- Length as the sole attribute of all cloth
- Weight in relevant cases
- The ordinary commercial construction of cloth
Question 6
What is wrong with reaching the stated cloth length through excessive stretching?
- Measurement is not ordinarily reproducible
- The fibre type necessarily changes
- Only the weight requirement is affected
- A dispute about the quantity can arise
Question 7
What distinguishes salam in standard cloth from demanding one unique antique piece?
- Both necessarily commit to one specific object
- The first can be described through reproducible qualities
- The first necessarily requires immediate delivery
- Specification is unnecessary in both
Question 8
What chiefly explains the classical prohibition of salam in gemstones?
- Specifying price for gems is forbidden
- Gems must always be bought for immediate payment
- There is no single weight unit for gemstones
- Large differences in quality and value despite equal weight
Question 9
Why distinguish sale of a specific present stone from salam in gemstones?
- Both specify the individual item identically
- Salam requires delivery of a future non-identified unit
- Ordinary sales never need descriptions
- Both oblige future unidentified stones
Question 10
What can remain uncertain in a promise of 100 beads?
- All beads necessarily requiring equal weights
- Fixing the deadline alongside price
- Material differences among units and their quality
- The receipt condition despite a fixed date
Question 11
Where does the qualified discussion of small weighed pearls come from?
- An explicit exception in Quduri’s base wording
- A modern trade label alone
- From known weight without further reasoning
- An explanation in Hanafi commentaries
Question 12
What does labin denote in this passage?
- An unbaked clay brick
- A brick mould
- A fired clay brick
- Brick powder
Question 13
What does ajurr refer to here?
- An unfired brick
- A mould for shaping bricks
- A fired brick
- A fodder bundle
Question 14
What legal function does a known milban serve?
- Fix the kiln’s price
- Fix repeatable brick dimensions
- Leave brick count unspecified
- Replace specification with price
Question 15
Which three dimensions identify a brick mould?
- Length, width, firing grade
- Length, weight, colour
- Length, width, thickness
- Length, width, brick count
Question 16
Two bricks have the same length and width but different thickness. What follows?
- Their volumes may differ
- Their prices must be identical
- Their weights are always identical
- Thickness is never relevant
Question 17
Bricks match the mould but differ materially in firing quality. What matters?
- Count makes grade irrelevant
- Only the payment currency matters
- The sale automatically becomes iqalah
- The agreed commercial quality must also be met
Question 18
Which two requirements appear in Quduri’s general criterion?
- Price increase and profit
- Precise qualities and known quantity
- Witnesses and writing only
- City and name only
Question 19
Price and date are fixed, but the goods’ grade is unclear. What is the problem?
- Salam is always valid
- Date is irrelevant
- Material uncertainty remains in the goods
- The goods must be gold
Question 20
If goods are fully described but the entire advance price is not paid in the sitting, what follows?
- Another required salam condition still fails
- It must be valid salam
- It becomes a gift
- Advance price is never required
Question 21
A contract specifies 500 uniform bricks and their mould but no delivery date. What defect remains?
- Mould is never important
- Brick is measured by volume only
- The buyer’s preference suffices
- The required delivery date is unspecified
Question 22
Cloth dimensions and quality are fixed. What must still be checked?
- Whether cloth can ever be sewn
- Advance payment, date and remaining conditions
- Only the fabric’s nickname
- The seller’s children
Question 23
What should first be checked when applying the rule to modern standardized goods?
- Can interchangeable units be specified reliably?
- Is their advertisement prominent?
- Is the seller famous?
- Is the packaging attractive?
Question 24
What does specifying weight and controllable grade change for a precious material?
- Every gemstone rule disappears
- Individual variation must disappear
- Only risk of damage disappears
- It allows assessment of whether the goods are truly specifiable
Question 25
Fabric size is fixed but the number of rolls is unknown. What remains incomplete?
- The ordinary commercial construction of cloth
- The buyer’s city
- The total quantity
- Always the fibre colour
Question 26
When is saying “1,000 bricks” insufficient for salam?
- Whenever bricks can be counted
- When mould and relevant grade are unknown
- When payment is in cash
- When they are fired
Question 27
Which Level 116 condition remains relevant to every Level 117 example?
- Receipt of the full advance price in the sitting
- Only gemstone counts
- Always textile weight
- A single mould name for every commodity
Question 28
What does the rule of describable attributes and known quantity explain?
- Everything must be sold only by weight
- Anything countable is valid
- The type of goods never matters
- Eligibility depends on removing material uncertainty
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