Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … Its form is that a person pays the price to the owner of a pregnant she-camel and says, “I am buying the fetus of this she-camel’s fetus.” This transaction is similar to usury (riba) in that it is prohibited like usury, because the seller is selling something which is neither in his possession nor does he have the ability to deliver it. Thus, there is uncertainty (gharar) and deception in this transaction.

This noble hadith has no connection with the forward sale (bay‘ salam). The hadith could be related to bay‘ salam/salaf in the following way: in it, a specific time is fixed. If the time is not fixed, then bay‘ salam is not permissible, and in the case of ḥabl al-ḥabala, the time is unknown. Similarly, if the sale of ḥabl al-ḥabala takes place, then the object itself is also unknown. Therefore, in salaf, it is not correct to fix the time up to ḥabl al-ḥabala, and due to the object being unknown, the sale of ḥabl al-ḥabala is also not permissible. (Abdullah Rafiq)