CHAPTER XXII

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BUYING AND SELLING

(Buyū')

1. "Men shall have the benefit of what they earn, and women shall have the benefit of what they earn" (4:32).

2. "Do not devour your property among yourselves falsely except that it be trading by your mutual consent" (4:29).

3. "Men whom neither merchandise nor selling diverts from the remembrance of Allāh" (24:37).

4. "And when the prayer has been ended , disperse abroad in the land and seek of Allāh's bounty" (62:10).

5. "Give a full measure when you measure out and weigh with a fair balance" (17:35).

The Arabic word for trading is bai' which means both buying and selling. Every man must earn his own living (v. 1, h. 1) and every profession is, therefore, honourable, even that of the hewer of wood (H. xvi:8). A man may follow any worldly pursuit that he likes but duty to Allāh shall take precedence of all other duties (v. 3; h. 2). Among means of livelihood, trade occupies the most prominent place, the honest merchant being one of the righteous servants of Allāh (v. 2, h. 3). The seller is required to be just in weighing (v. 5), generous in dealing (h. 4), giving respite even to those in easy circumstances and forgiving those in straitened circumstances (h. 5). If there is a defect in the thing sold, it must be made manifest to the purchaser (h. 6). Two kinds of sale prevalent before Islām, munābadhah and mulāmasah, in which the purchaser was deprived of the occasion to examine the thing purchased. were made unlawful (h. 7). The taking of oaths in selling things is forbidden (h. 8). Special directions are given as to the sale of cereals, because they are the prime need of every man, rich or poor. They should be sold in the market so that they may be had at the price which the producer obtained (h. 9). Speculation in this prime need of humanity is disallowed, it being necessary that cereals shall be sold only after their possession has been obtained (h. 10). The withholding of cereals to raise their price artificially is prohibited (h. 11). Najsh or deceiving a purchaser through a third party offering a higher price is forbidden (h. 12), but auction or open sale to the highest bidder is allowed

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(h. 13). Similarly enhancing the price of milch animals by leaving them unmilked before their sale is forbidden (h. 14). Advance prices or earnest money could be paid only when the measure or weight and time of delivery were definitely settled (h. 15). Immovable property, it is recommended, should only be sold if the seller intends investing money in other immovable property (h. 16). Trade in idols and in things which are forbidden as food, such as wine, swine and that which dies of itself, is disallowed (h. 17), but as there is an express direction that the skin of a dead animal should nor be thrown away and advantage should be derived therefrom (h. 18), trade in it is evidently not prohibited, and the same rule may be followed in other things prohibited as food, such as the bones and fat of a dead animal, etc.

1 Miqdām reported,

The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"No one eats better food than that which he eats out of the work of his hand."1

(B. 34:15.)

2 Qatādah said, People used to buy and sell and carry on trade (in goods), but when it was the turn of a duty out of

1. The humblest work thus carries with it a dignity. Bukhārī mentions a number of professions in the headings of his chapters, such as that of meat-seller and butcher (B. 34:21), goldsmith (B. 34:28), blacksmith (B, 34:29), tailor (B. 34:30), weaver (B. 34:31), carpenter (B. 34:32); and mentions hadīth showing that they were looked upon as honourable by the Holy Prophet, those who followed them being treated on a basis of perfect equality with other members of Muslim society.

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the duties imposed by Allāh, neither merchandise nor selling diverted them from the remembrance of Allāh, so that they performed their duty to Allāh (first).2

(B. 34:8.)

3 Abū Sa'īd reported,

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"The truthful, honest merchant is with the prophets and the truthful ones and the martyrs."3

(Tr. 12:4.)

4 Jābir reported,

The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"May Allāh have mercy on the man who is generous when he buys and when he sells and when he demands (his due)."

(B. 34:16.)

5 Hudhaifah said,

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

2. Duty to God is thus placed higher than duty to self or duty to others.

3. The truthful, honest merchant works for the benefit of humanity, and thus finds a place with those righteous servants of God whose lives are devoted to the benefit of humanity.

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"The angels met the soul of a man from among those who were before you, (and) they said, Hast thou done any good? He said, I used to give respite to the one in easy circumstances and forgive one who was in straitened circumstances. So they forgave him."

(B. 34:17.)

6 Hakīm ibn Hizām said,

The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"The buyer and the seller have the option (of cancelling the contract) as long as they have not separated, then if they both speak the truth and make manifest,4 their transaction shall be blessed, and if they conceal and tell lies, the blessing of their transaction shall be obliterated."

(B. 34:19.)

4. Any defect in the thing sold must be made manifest. In the case of a barter, both parties must do it.

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7 Abū Sa'īd reported, The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, forbade munābadhah, and this was the throwing of a person his cloth in sale to another before he examined it or looked at it; and he forbade mulāmasah, and mulāmasah was the touching of a cloth without looking at it.6

(B. 34:62.)

8 Abū Hurairah said,

I heard the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say

"The taking of oaths makes the commodities sell, but it obliterates the blessing (therein)."

(B. 34:26.)

9 Ibn 'Umar reported,

They used to buy cereals from the

5. In pre-Islamic days Munābadhah (from nabdh, to throw away) and mulāmasah (from lams, to touch) were two kinds of sale in which the purchaser had no occasion to examine the thing purchased.

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camel-owners in the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and he used to send to them a person who forbade them selling it where they purchased it, until it was brought to the place where cereals were sold.

(B. 34:49.)

10 Ibn 'Umar said,

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"Whoever buys cereals, he shall not sell them until he obtains their possession."

(B. 34:54.)

11 Ma'mar said,

The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said,

"Whoever withholds cereals that they may become scarce and dear, is a sinner."6

(M-Msh. 12:8.)

12 Abū Hurairah said,

The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, forbade

6. This is technically known as ihtikār, and it is resorted to by grain merchants to enhance the price of grain when it comes into their possession.

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the dweller of the town selling for one coming from the desert, and (he said):

"Do not resort to najsh; and let not a man carry on a transaction against his brother's transaction."7

(B. 34:58.)

13 Anas reported,

The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, purchased a piece of hair-cloth and a bowl, and he said:

'Who will buy this piece of hair-cloth and bowl?"

A man said, I take them for one dirham.

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said: "Who will give more than one dirham? Who will give more than one dirham?"

7. Najsh (from najasha, he roused or pursued the game) means augmenting the price of an article of merchandise, not desiring to purchase it but in order that another might hear and augment in the same manner or outbidding in a sale in order that another might fall into a snare, the bidder himself not wanting the thing, or praising an article of merchandise simply to deceive another person (LL). Perfect honesty is thus enjoined in all business transactions. The first part of the hadīth aims at eliminating the commission agent who on account of his cleverness generally proves a curse to the simple villager or agriculturist, for whose protection the direction is particularly meant.

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A man gave him two dirhams and bought them from him.8

(Tr. 12:10.)

14 Abū Hurairah reported on the authority of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him:

"Do not leave the camels and the goats unmilked,9 and whoever buys them after (they have been so left), he has the option of doing one of the two things when he milks them; if he pleases he may keep them and if he pleases he may give them back (to the owner) with sā' of dates.

(B. 34:64.)

15 Ibn 'Abbās said,

The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, came to Madīnah, and they used to pay two and three years in advance for dates.10 So he said:

"He who pays in advance for a commodity, (he should do it) for a specified measure

8. To sell a thing by auction is thus allowed.

9. This was a device by which the purchaser of a milch animal was deceived and induced to pay a higher price. Such a sale may he repudiated.

10. This was a kind of speculation, not trade in the proper sense, because the thing purchased did not exist.

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and a definite weight to be delivered at a fixed time."

(13. 35:2.)

16 Sa'īd ibn Huraith said,

The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:

"Whoever sells a house or a land yielding revenue, then he does not invest the price on a thing akin to it, he is not likely to be blessed therein."11

(Ah. IV. 307.)

17 Jābir reported,

He heard the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say, while he was at Makkah in the year of the conquest (of Makkah):

Allāh and His Messenger have forbidden trade in wine and the dead (animals) and swine and Idols."12

(B. 34:112.)

11. It is due to neglect of this useful advice that immovable property is passing out of the hands of the Muslim community in India at a very fast pace. A Muslim is enjoined to meet his ordinary or extraordinary expenses out of his earnings or savings, and he must not sell his immovable property unless he intends to invest the price of it in acquiring similar property.

12. Islām came to exterminate idolatry, and hence it could not allow trade in idols. As regards things forbidden as food, evidently a Muslim has nothing p. 301 to do with them, and he cannot be allowed to carry them to other people. So far the words of the hadīth are quite in consonance with the spirit of Islām. which looks upon every profession as a service to humanity, besides being the means of earning a livelihood for a man. But here follow the words:

It was said, O Messenger of Allāh! Inform us about the fat of the dead (animal); for, with it boots are rubbed and skins are greased and people light their lamps with it. He said: 'No! it is forbidden' (B. 34: 112).

If this part of the hadīth is accepted as authentic, the question arises, Did the Holy Prophet mean to say that it was forbidden to Muslims that they should make use of the fat of the dead animal to light lamps or grease skins? This would mean that not only was the eating of the dead animal forbidden, but anything which formed part of it could not he used in any other way. This is nowhere stated in the Holy Qur'ān. where only the eating of certain things is forbidden, Moreover, the hadīth that follows, riot only makes such use lawful but clearly makes it necessary (b. 18). When the Holy Prophet saw a dead goat with its skin on it, he said :"Why did you not benefit by its skin?" If it was necessary to benefit by the skin, why not by the bones or the fat, so long as they were not used for eating purposes? The Holy Prophet could not, therefore, say that it was unlawful to use any part of a dead animal whose flesh was forbidden and this part of the hadīth cannot be accepted.

Imām Sh'āfi'ī and others have interpreted this part as meaning that it was the trading in such things as fats that was forbidden, not their use. There is no reason in this. If the use of a certain thing is allowed for a certain purpose, trading in it cannot be forbidden if limited to that purpose. The Holy Prophet made it necessary that the skins of the animals whose flesh was forbidden should be made use of, but how could that be done if trading in it was prohibited? Evidently there has been some misconception relating to the latter portion of the hadīth.

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18 Ibn 'Abbās said, The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, saw a dead goat which had been given to a maid of Maimūnah out of zakāt. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said: "Why did you not benefit by its skin?" They said, It was dead. He said: "Only the eating thereof is forbidden."13

(B. 24:61)

13. The words of the Holy Prophet make it clear that a thing which may not be eaten may be put to any other use.