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Chapter
22:
Buying and Selling (Hadith -- The
Traditions):
(Note:
The superscript-numbers [e.g., intention2]
that
appear in the text [in
pink]
refer to the numbers of the explanatory footnotes that
appear at the end of each Hadith
[Tradition].)
1
Miqdam reported,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah 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.)
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1
The humblest work thus carries with it a dignity.
Bukhari 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 hadith 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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2
Qatadah said,
People used to buy and sell and carry on trade (in goods),
but when it was the turn of a duty out of the duties imposed
by Allah, neither merchandise nor selling diverted them from
the remembrance of Allah, so that they performed their duty
to Allah (first).2
(B. 34 : 8.)
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2
Duty to God is thus placed higher than duty to self
or duty to others.
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3
Abu Sa`id resorted,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him,
said:
"The truthful, honest
merchant is with the prophets and the truthful ones and
the martyrs."3
(Tr. 14 : 4.)
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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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4
Jabir reported,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be on
him, said:
"May Allah 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 Allah be on him, said:
"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
Hakim ibn Hizam said,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah 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.)
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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
Abu Sa`id reported,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be on
him, forbade munabadhah, 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 mulamasah, and
mulamasah was the touching of a cloth without looking
at it.5
(B. 34 : 62.)
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5
In pre-Islamic days Munabadhah (from
nabdh, to throw away) and mulamasah
(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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8
Abu Hurairah said,
I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah
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 camel-owners in the time
of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah 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 Allah 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 Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be on
him, said,
"Whoever withholds cereals
that they may become scarce and dear, is a sinner."
6
(M-Msh. 12 :
8.)
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6
This is technically known as ihtikar, and it
is resorted to by grain merchants to enhance the
price of grain when it comes into their
possession.
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12
Abu Hurairah said,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be on
him, forbade 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.)
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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 hadith 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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13
Anas reported,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah 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
Allah be on him, said:
"Who will give more than one
dirham? Who will give more than one dirham?"
A man gave him two dirhams and bought
them from him.8
(Tr. 14 :
10.)
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8
To sell a thing by auction is thus
allowed.
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14
Abu Hurairah reported on the authority of the Prophet, peace
and blessings of Allah 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 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 a sa` of dates." (B. 34
: 64.)
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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 be repudiated.
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15
Ibn `Abbas said,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, came to
Madinah, 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 and
a definite weight to be delivered at a fixed time." (B.
35 : 2.)
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10
This was a kind of speculation, not trade in the
proper sense, because the thing purchased did not
exist.
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16
Sa`id ibn Huraith said,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be on
him, said:
"Whoever sells a house or a
land yieldin grevenue, 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.)
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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.
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17
Jabir reported,
He heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of
Allah be on him, say, while he was at Makkah in the year of
the conquest (of Makkah):
"Allah and His Messenger have
forbidden trade in wine and the dead (animals) and swine
and idols."12
(B. 34 : 112.)
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12
Islam came to exterminate idolatry, and hence it
could not allow trade in idols. As regards things
forbidden as food, evidently a Muslim has nothing
to do with them, and he cannot be allowed to carry
them to other people. So far the words of the
hadith are quite in consonance with the spirit of
Islam, 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 Allah! 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 hadith 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 be used in any other way. This is
nowhere stated in the Holy Qur'an, where only the
eating of certain things is forbidden. Moreover,
the hadith that follows, not only makes such use
lawful but clearly makes it necessary (h. 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 hadith cannot be
accepted.
Imam Shafi`i 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
hadith.
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18
Ibn `Abbas said,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, saw a
dead goat which had been given to a maid of Maimunah out of
zakat. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him,
said :
"Why did you not benefit by
its skin?" He said : "Only the eating thereof is
forbidden." 13
(B. 24 : 61.)
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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.
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Hadith
Section
> A
Manual of Hadith
> Chapter 22: Buying and Selling (Hadith -- The
Traditions)
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