What is the ruling when the subject of a Salam contract (delivered good) cannot be handed over at the agreed time due to its absence or inability to be delivered?
Chapter on Guaranteed Salaf (Advance Payment) for a Specified Term
Al-Mughni
Book of Sales
Primary text
When the delivery of the subject of the Salam contract is impossible due to the subject being absent, the seller's inability to deliver, the non-existence of the subject, or the failure of the fruit to yield that year, the buyer holds the choice. The buyer may either wait until the subject becomes available and demand it, or dissolve the contract and reclaim the price if it was paid, or reclaim its equivalent if it is a fungible good, or its value otherwise. This opinion is held by Al-Shafi'i, Ishaq, and Ibn al-Mundhir.
Supporting text
There is an alternative view that the contract is automatically dissolved upon the impossibility of delivery, based on the premise that the subject of the Salam must originate from that year's harvest, and its destruction dissolves the contract, analogous to selling a specific quantity from a bulk commodity that subsequently perishes.