Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said heard Jamil
ibn Abd ar-Rahman the Muadhdhin say to Said ibn al-Musayyab, "I am a
man who buys whatever Allah wills of the receipts for the provisions
which people are offered at al-Jar. I want to take payment for goods
that I guarantee to deliver at a future date." Said said to him, "Do
you intend to settle these things with receipts for provisions you
have bought?" He said, "Yes." So he forbade that.
Malik said,
"The generally agreed on way of doing things among us in which there
is no dispute, about buying food - wheat, barley, durra-sorghum, pearl
millet, or any pulse or anything resembling pulses on which zakat is
obliged, or condiments of any sort - oil, ghee, honey, vinegar,
cheese, sesame oil, milk and so on, is that the buyer should not re-
sell any of that until he has taken possession and complete delivery
of it.
Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'z-Zinad heard Sa'id ibn
al-Musayyab andSulayman ibn Yasar forbid a man to sell wheat for gold
on delayed terms and then to buy dried dates with the gold before he
had taken delivery of the gold.
Yahya related to me from Malik that Kathir ibn Farqad asked Abu
Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm about a man who sold food to be
delivered at a future date to a man for gold and then with the gold,
he bought dates before he had taken delivery of the gold. He
disapproved of that and forbade it.
Yahya related to me from
Malik from Ibn Shihab the like of that.
Malik said, ''Said
ibn al-Musayyab, Sulayman ibn Yasar, Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn
Hazm, and Ibn Shihab forbade that a man sell wheat for gold and then
buy dates with that gold before he had received the gold from the
transaction in which he sold the wheat. There is no harm for someone
to buy dates on delayed terms, on the strength of the gold for which
he sold the wheat, from someone other than the person to whom he sold
the wheat before taking possession of the gold, and to refer the one
from whom he bought the dates to his debtor who bought the wheat, for
the gold he is owed for the dates."
Malik said, "I asked more
than one of the people of knowledge about that and they did not see
any harm in it."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar
said that there was no harm in a man making an advance to another man
for food, with a set description and price until a set date, as long
as it was not in crops, or dates which had not begun to ripen.
Malik said, "The way of doing things among us concerning someone
who makes an advance for foodstuffs at a known rate until a stated
date, and the date arrives and he finds that there is not enough of
what he was sold with the seller to fulfill his order, and so he
revokes the sale, is that he must only take back the silver, gold, or
price which he paid exactly. He does not buy anything else from the
man for the same price until he has got back what he paid. That is
because if he took something else besides the price which he paid him
or exchanged it for goods other than the goods which he bought from
him, it would be selling food before getting delivery of it."
Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, forbade selling food before getting delivery of it."
Malik said that it was not good if the buyer regretted his purchase
and asked the seller to revoke the sale for him and he would not press
him immediately for what he had paid. The people of knowledge forbade
that. That was because when the food was made ready for the buyer by
the seller, the buyer deferred his due from the seller in order that
he might revoke the sale for him. That was the sale of food with
delayed terms before taking delivery of the food.
Malik said,
"The explanation of that is that when the date of delivery comes and
the buyer dislikes the food, the seller takes by it money to be paid
later and so it is not revocation. Revocation is that in which neither
the buyer nor the seller is increased. When increase occurs by
deferment of payment for a time period, or by anything which increases
one of them over the other or anything which gives one of them profit,
it is not revocation. When either of them do that, revocation becomes
a sale. There is an indulgence for revocation, partnership, and
transfer, as long as i ncrease, decrease, or deferment does not come
into them. If increase, decrease, or deferment comes into it, it
becomes a sale. Whatever makes a sale halal makes it halal and
whatever makes a sale haram makes it haram."
Malik said, "If
someone pays in advance for Syrian wheat, there is no harm if he takes
a load after the term falls due."
Malik said, "It is the same
with whoever advances for any kind of thing. There is no harm in him
taking better than whatever he has made an advance for or worse than
it after the agreed delivery date. The explanation of that is that if,
for instance, a man advances for a certain weight of wheat. There is
no harm if he decides to take some barley or Syrian wheat. If he has
made an advance for good dates, there is no harm if he decides to take
poor quality dates. If he paid in advance for red raisins, there is no
harm if he takes black ones, when it happens after the agreed delivery
date, and when the measure of what he takes is like the measure of
what he paid for in advance."
Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Sulayman
ibn Yasar said, "The fodder of the donkeys of Saad ibn Abi Waqqas ran
out and so he told his slave to take some of the family's wheat and
buy barley with it, and to only take a like quantity."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Sulayman ibn Yasar
told him that one time the fodder of the animals of Abd ar-Rahman ibn
al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth was finished so he said to his slave, "Take
some of your family's wheat as food and buy with it barley, and take
only a like quantity.' "
Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the same as that
from al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from Ibn Muayqib ad-Dawsi.
Malik
said, "This is the way of doing things among us . "
Malik
said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us is that
wheat is not sold for wheat, dates for dates, wheat for dates, dates
for raisins, wheat for raisins, nor any kind of food sold for food at
all, except from hand to hand. If there is any sort of delayed terms
in the transaction, it is not good. It is haram. Condiments are not
bartered except from hand to hand."
Malik said, "Food and
condiments are not bartered when they are the same type, two of one
kind for one of the other. A mudd of wheat is not sold for two mudds
of wheat, nor a mudd of dates for two mudds of dates, nor a mudd of
raisins for two mudds of raisins, nor is anything of that sort done
with grains and condiments when they are of one kind, even if it is
hand to hand.
"This is the same position as silver for silver
and gold for gold. No increase is halal in the transaction, and only
like for like, from hand to hand is halal."
Malik said, "If
there is a clear difference in foodstuffs which are measured and
weighed, there is no harm in taking two of one kind for one of
another, hand to hand. There is no harm in taking a sa of dates for
two sa of wheat, and a sa of dates for two sa of raisins, and a sa of
wheat for two sa of ghee. If the two sorts in the transaction are
different, there is no harm in two for one or more than that from hand
to hand. If delayed terms enter into the sale, it is not halal ."
Malik said, "It is not halal to trade a heap of wheat for a heap
of wheat. There is no harm in a heap of wheat for a heap of dates,
from hand to hand. That is because there is no harm in buying wheat
with dates without precise measurement."
Malik said, "With
kinds of foods and condiments that differ from each other, and the
difference is clear, there is no harm in bartering one kind for
another, without precise measurement from hand to hand. If delayed
terms enter into the sale, there is no good in it. Bartering such
things without precise measurement is like buying it with gold and
silver without measuring precisely."
Malik said, "That is
because you buy wheat with silver without measuring precisely, and
dates with gold without measuring precisely, and it is halal. There is
no harm in it."
Malik said, "It is not good for someone to
make a heap of food, knowing its measure and then to sell it as if it
had not been measured precisely, concealing its measure from the
buyer. If the buyer wants to return that food to the seller, he can,
because he concealed its measure and so it is an uncertain
transaction. This is done with any kind of food or other goods whose
measure and number the seller knows, and which he then sells without
measurement and the buyer does not know that. If the buyer wants to
return that to the seller, he can return t. The people of knowledge
still forbid such a transaction."
Malik said, "There is no
good in selling one round loaf of bread for two round loaves, nor
large for small when some of them are bigger than others. When care is
taken that they are like for like, there is no harm in the sale, even
if they are not weighed."
Malik said, "It is not good to sell
a mudd of butter and a mudd of milk for two mudds of butter. This is
like what we described of selling dates when two sa of kabis and a sa
of poor quality dates were sold for three sa of ajwa dates after the
buyer had said to the seller, 'Two sa of kabis dates for three sa of
ajwa dates is not good,' and then he did that to make the transaction
possible. The owner of the milk puts the milk with his butter so that
he can use the superiority of his butter over the butter of the other
party to put his milk in with it."
Malik said, "Flour for
wheat is like for like, and there is no harm in that. That is if he
does not mix up anything with the flour and sell it for wheat, like
for like. Had he put half a mudd of flour and half of wheat, and then
sold that for a mudd of wheat, it would be like what we described, and
it would not be good because he would want to use the superiority of
his good wheat to put flour along with it. Such a transaction is not
good."
Yahya related to me from Malik that Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abi
Maryam asked Said ibn al-Musayyab's advice. "I am a man who buys food
with receipts from al-Jar. Perhaps I will buy something for a dinar
and half a dirham, and will be given food for a half." Said said, "No.
You give a dirham, and take the rest in food." (A half dirham did not
exist as a coin.)
Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Muhammad
Sirin used to say, "Do not sell grain on the ears until it is white."
Malik said, "If someone buys food for a known price to be
delivered at a stated date, and when the date comes, the one who owes
the food says, 'I do not have any food, sell me the food which I owe
you with delayed terms.' The owner of the food says, 'This is not
good, because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, forbade selling food until the deal was completed.' The one
who owes the food says to his creditor, 'Sell me any kind of food on
delayed terms until I discharge the debt to you.' This is not good
because he gives him food and then he returns it to him. The gold
which he gave him becomes the price of that which is his right against
him and the food which he gave him becomes what clears what is between
them. If they do that, it becomes the sale of food before the deal is
complete."
Malik spoke about a man who was owed food which he
had purchased from a man and this man was owed the like of that food
by another man. The one who owed the food said to his creditor, "I
will refer you to my debtor who owes me the same amount of food as I
owe you, so that you may obtain the food which I owe you ."
Malik said, "If the man who had to deliver the food, had gone out, and
bought the food to pay off his creditor, that is not good. That is
selling food before taking possession of it. If the food is an advance
which falls due at that particular time, there is no harm in paying
off his creditor with it because that is nota sale. It is not halal to
sell food before receiving it in full since the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade that. However, the
people of knowledge agree that there is no harm in partnership,
transfer of responsibility and revocation in sales of food and other
goods."
Malik said, "That is because the people of knowledge
consider it as a favour rendered. They do not consider it as a sale.
It is like a man lending light dirhams. He is then paid back in
dirhams of full weight, and so gets back more than he lent. That is
halal for him and permitted. Had a man bought defective dirhams from
him as being the full weight, that would not be halal. Had it been
stipulated to him that he lend full weight in dirhams, and then he
gave faulty ones, that would not be halal for him."
Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Umar ibn
al-Khattab said, "There is no hoarding in our market, and men who have
excess gold in their hands should not buy up one of Allah's provisions
which he has sent to our courtyard and then hoard it up against us.
Someone who brings imported goods through great fatigue to himself in
the summer and winter, that person is the guest of Umar. Let him sell
what Allah wills and keep what Allah wills."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Yunus ibn Yusuf from Said ibn
al-Musayyab that Umar ibn al-Khattab passed by Hatab ibn Abi Baltaa
who was underselling some of his raisins in the market. Umar ibn al-
Khattab said to him, "Either increase the price or leave our market."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Salih ibn Kaysan from Hasan
ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib that Ali ibn Abi Talib sold one of
his camels called Usayfir for 20 camels to be delivered later.
Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar
bought a female riding-camel for four camels and he guaranteed to give
them in full to the buyer at ar-Rabadha.
Yahya related to me that Malik asked Ibn Shihab about selling
animals, two for one with delayed terms. He said, "There is no harm in
it."
Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things
among us is that there is no harm in bartering a camel for a camel
like it and adding some dirhams to the exchange, from hand to hand.
There is no harm in bartering a camel for a camel like it with some
dirhams on top of the exchange, the camels to be exchanged from hand
to hand, and the dirhams to be paid within a period." He said, "There
is no good however in bartering a camel for a camel like it with some
dirhams on top of it, with the dirhams paid in cash and the camel to
be delivered later. If both the camel and the dirhams are deferred
there is no good in that either."
Malik said, "There is no
harm in buying a riding camel with two or more pack-camels, if they
are from inferior stock. There is no harm in bartering two of them for
one with delayed terms, if they are different and their difference is
clear. If they resemble each other whether their species are different
or not, two are not to be taken for one with delayed terms."
Malik said, "The explanation of what is disapproved of in that, is
that a camel should not be bought with two camels when there is no
distinction between them in speed or hardiness. If this is according
to what I have described to you, then one does not buy two of them for
one with delayed terms. There is no harm in selling those of them you
buy before you complete the deal to somebody other than the one from
whom you bought them if you get the price in cash."
Malik
said, "It is permitted for someone to advance something on animals for
a fixed term and describe the amount and pay its price in cash.
Whatever the buyer and seller have described is obliged for them. That
is still permitted behaviour between people and what the people of
knowledge in our land do."
Yahya related to me from Malih from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar
that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
forbade the transaction called habal alhabala. It was a transaction
which the people of Jahiliya practised. A man would buy the unborn
offspring of the unborn offspring of a she-camel.
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that Said ibn al-
Musayyab said, "There is no usury in animals. There are three things
forbidden in animals:
al-madamin, al-malaqih and habal al-habala. Al-
madamin is the sale of what is in the wombs of female camels. Al-
malaqih is the sale of the breeding qualities of camels" (i.e. for
stud).
Malik said, "No one should buy a specified animal when
it is concealed from him or in another place, even if he has already
seen it, very recently or not so recently, and was pleased enough with
it to pay its price in cash."
Malik said, "That is
disapproved of because the seller makes use of the price and it is not
known whether or not those goods are found to be as the buyer saw them
or not. For that reason, it is disapproved of. There is no harm in it
if it is described and guaranteed."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Said ibn
al-Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, forbade bartering live animals for meat.
Yahya related to me from Malik from Da'ud ibn al-Husayn that he
heard Said ibn alMusayyab say, "Part of the gambling of the people of
Jahiliya was bartering live animals for slaughtered meat, for instance
one live sheep for two slaughtered sheep."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad that Said ibn al-
Musayyab said, "Bartering live animals for dead meat is forbidden."
Abu'z-Zinad said, "I said to Said ibn Musayyab, 'What do you think of
a man buying an old camel for 10 sheep?' " Said said, "If he buys it
to slaughter it, there is no good in it." Abu'z-Zinad added, "All the
people (i.e. companions) that I have seen forbade bartering live
animals for meat."
Abu'z-Zinad said, "This used to be written
in the appointment letters of governors in the time of Aban ibn Uthman
and Hisham ibn Ismail."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Abu Bakr ibn
Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham from Abu Masud al-Ansari that
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
forbade the sale price of a dog, the earnings of a prostitute and the
earnings of a fortune teller.
By the earnings of a prostitute
he meant what a woman was given for fornication. The earnings of a
fortune teller were what he was given to tell a fortune.
Malik said, "I disapprove of the price of a dog, whether it is a
hunting dog or otherwise because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, forbade the price of a dog."
Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade
'selling and lending.'
Malik said, "The explanation of what
that meant is that one man says to another, 'I will take your goods
for such-and-such if you lend me such-and-such.' If they agree to a
transaction in this manner, it is not permitted. If the one who
stipulates the loan abandons his stipulation, then the sale is
permitted."
Malik said, "There is no harm in exchanging linen
from Shata, for garments from Itribi, or Qass, or Ziqa. Or the cloth
of Herat or Merv for Yemeni cloaks and shawls and such like as one for
two or three, from hand to hand or with delayed terms. If the goods
are of the same kind, and deferment enters into the transaction, there
is no good in it."
Malik said, "It is not good unless they
are different, and the difference between them is clear. When they
resemble each other, even if the names are different, do not take two
for one with delayed terms, for instance two garments of Herat for one
from Merv or Quhy with delayed terms, ortwo garments of Furqub for one
from Shata. All these sorts are of the same description, so do not buy
two for one, on delayed terms."
Malik said, "There is no harm
in selling what you buy of things of this nature, before you complete
the deal, to some one other than the person from whom you purchased
them if the price was paid in cash."
Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that al-Qasim
ibn Muhammad said, ''I heard Abdullah ibn Abbas say, when a man asked
him about a man making an advance on some garments and then wanting to
sell them back before taking possession of them, 'That is silver for
silver,' and he disapproved of it."
Malik said, "Our opinion
is - and Allah knows best that was because he wanted to sell them to
the person from whom he had bought them for more than the price for
which he bought them. Had he sold them to some one other than the
person from whom he had purchased them, there would not have been any
harm in it."
Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of
doing things among us concerning making an advance for slaves, cattle
or goods is that when all of what is to be sold is described and an
advance is made for them for a date, and the date falls due, the buyer
does not sell any of that to the person from whom he has purchased it
for more than the price which he advanced for it before he has taken
full possession of what he has advanced for. It is usury if he does.
If the buyer gives the seller dinars or dirhams and he profits with
them, then, when the goods come to the buyer and he does not take them
into his possession but sells them back to their owner for more than
what he advanced for them, the outcome is that what he has advanced
has returned to him and has been increased for him."
Malik
said, "If someone advances gold or silver for described animals or
goods which are to be delivered before a named date, and the date
arrives, or it is before or after the date, there is no harm in the
buyer selling those goods to the seller, for other goods, to be taken
immediately and not delayed, no matter how extensive the amount of
those goods is, except in the case of food because it is not halal to
sell it before he has full possession of it. The buyer can sell those
goods to some one other than the person from whom he purchased them
for gold or silver or any goods. He takes possession of it and does
not defer it because if he defers it, that is ugly and there enters
into the transaction what is disapproved of:
delay for delay. Delay
for delay is to sell a debt against one man for a debt against another
man."
Malik said, "If someone advances for goods to be
delivered after a time, and those goods are neither something to be
eaten nor drunk, he can sell them to whomever he likes for cash or
goods, before he takes delivery of them, to some one other than the
person from whom he purchased them. He must not sell them to the
person from whom he bought them except in exchange for goods which he
takes possession of immediately and does not defer."
Malik
said, "If the delivery date for the goods has not arrived, there is no
harm in selling them to the original owner for goods which are clearly
different and which he takes immediate possession of and does not
defer."
Malik spoke about the case of a man who advanced
dinars or dirhams for four specified pieces of cloth to be delivered
before a specified time and when the term fell due, he demanded
delivery from the seller and the seller did not have them. He found
that the seller had cloth but inferior quality, and the seller said
that he would give him eight of those cloths. Malik said, "There is no
harm in that if he takes the cloths which he offers him before they
separate. It is not good if delayed terms enter into the transaction.
It is also not good if that is before the end of the term, unless he
sells him cloth which is notthetypeof cloth for which he made an
advance.
Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that a man said
to another, "Buy this camel for me immediately so that I can buy him
from you on credit." Abdullah ibn Umar was asked about that and he
disapproved of it and forbade it.