Hazrat Saeed bin Musayyib and Sulaiman bin Yasar used to prohibit that a person should sell wheat for gold on a deferred basis, and then, before taking the gold, take dates in exchange for it.

Hazrat Kathir bin Farqad asked Abu Bakr bin Muhammad bin Amr bin Hazm: If a person sells grain for gold on a fixed term, then before taking the gold, he buys dates in exchange for it? He said: This is disliked, and he forbade it.

The same is also narrated from Ibn Shihab.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Sulayman ibn Yasar, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad, and Ibn Shihab forbade that a man sell wheat for gold, then with that gold buy dates from the same person to whom he sold the wheat, before taking possession of the gold. But if, with that gold, he buys dates from someone other than the person to whom he sold the wheat, and refers the price of the dates to the person to whom he sold the wheat, then it is permissible.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: I asked many people of knowledge about this issue, all of them said it is correct.

Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: There is no harm if a man gives another man a loan in grain, when he describes its quality, fixes the price, and sets a specific term, as long as the salam is not in a field whose improvement is unknown, or in dates whose improvement is unknown.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In our view, the ruling is as follows: Whoever gives advance payment (salam) for grain at a fixed price for a specified period, then when the period ends and the buyer does not find the grain with the seller and the salam is broken, the buyer should take back exactly the silver or gold or the price he had given. He should not purchase another item from the seller in exchange for it until he takes possession of his payment, because if the buyer takes something other than what he had paid and buys another item in exchange for it, then he has sold the grain before taking possession of it, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, has prohibited this.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If the buyer says to the seller, "Cancel the salam contract and I will give you time to return the price," then this is not permissible, and the people of knowledge prohibit it. Because when the term has passed and the grain is due upon the seller, and now the buyer delays in taking his right on the condition that the seller cancels the salam, then it is as if the buyer has sold his grain for a term before taking possession of it.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that its example is like when the term is completed and the buyer does not wish to take the grain, so some money is fixed in exchange for that grain for a certain period; then this is not an iqalah. Iqalah is that in which there is neither increase nor decrease from the seller or the buyer. If there is any increase or decrease in it, or if any term is extended, or any benefit is fixed for the seller or the buyer, then that iqalah will be considered a sale. And iqalah, partnership, and tawliyah are valid as long as there is no increase, decrease, or term. If these things are present, then it will be considered a new sale. The reasons for which a sale is valid, these will also be valid, and the reasons for which a sale is invalid, these will also be invalid.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said that if a person stipulates fine wheat in a salam contract, then after the term has passed, he takes better or worse wheat than that, there is no harm in it provided that the weight is the same as was stipulated. The same ruling applies to grapes and dates.