Commercial Transactions (Kitab Al-Buyu)

Qays ibn Abi Gharazah said: In the time of the Messenger of Allah, we were called brokers. The Messenger of Allah passed by us and gave us a better name, saying, "Merchants, buying and selling are accompanied by idle talk and swearing, so mix your trade with charity."

A report to the same effect has been transmitted from Qays ibn Abi Gharazah through another chain. In this version the wording is, "Lying and swearing occur in it." Abdullah al-Zuhri said, "Idle talk and lying."

Ibn Abbas reported that a man demanded payment from a debtor who owed him ten dinars. The debtor said, "By Allah, I will not leave you until you repay me or bring me a guarantor." The Prophet stood surety for him. The debtor then brought the amount he had promised. The Prophet asked, "Where did you get this gold?" He replied, "From a mine." The Prophet said, "We have no need of it; there is no good in it." The Messenger of Allah then paid the debt on his behalf.

Al-Numan ibn Bashir said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, "What is lawful is clear, and what is forbidden is clear; between them are matters that are ambiguous." He would sometimes say, "ambiguous" in the singular. He then said, "I will give you an example: Allah has a protected sanctuary, and Allah’s sanctuary is what He has forbidden. Whoever grazes around the sanctuary may soon enter it; whoever becomes involved in doubtful matters may soon become bold."

Al-Numan ibn Bashir reported that the Messenger of Allah said, in this hadith: Between them are ambiguous matters, which many people do not know. Whoever avoids doubtful matters safeguards his honour and his religion, while whoever falls into doubtful matters falls into what is forbidden.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said: A time will come upon people when no one will remain who does not consume usury. If someone does not consume it directly, some of its vapour will reach him. Ibn Isa said, Some of its dust will reach him.

A man of the Ansar said: We went out with the Messenger of Allah for a funeral. I saw him at the grave instructing the gravedigger to make it wider at the feet and at the head. When he returned, a messenger from a woman invited him, and food was brought. He and the people began eating. Our elders saw him chewing a mouthful, then he said that he could taste meat from a sheep taken without the permission of its owner. The woman sent word that she had asked someone to buy a sheep at al-Baqi but could not find one, so she asked a neighbour who had bought a sheep to send it for its price. He could not be found, so she asked his wife, who sent it to her. The Messenger of Allah said to feed it to the prisoners.

Abdullah ibn Masud reported that the Messenger of Allah cursed the one who consumes usury, the one who pays it, its two witnesses, and the one who records it.

Sulayman ibn Amr reported from his father that he heard the Messenger of Allah say during the Farewell Pilgrimage: All claims to usury from the pre-Islamic period are abolished. You may keep your principal: do not wrong others, and you will not be wronged. All claims to blood vengeance from the pre-Islamic period are abolished. The first blood claim I set aside is that for al-Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who was being nursed among Banu Layth and was killed by Hudhayl. He then asked three times whether he had conveyed the message, and they replied yes. He said three times, O Allah, bear witness.

Abu Hurayrah reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah say: An oath makes a commodity sell, but removes its blessing. Ibn al-Sarh said, removes its earnings. Another chain transmits it from Said ibn al-Musayyib from Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet.

Suwayd ibn Qays said: Makhrafah al-Abdi and I brought garments from Hajar to Mecca. The Messenger of Allah came walking and bargained with us for trousers, which we sold to him. A man was weighing the payment, and the Messenger of Allah told him, Weigh it out and give a little extra.

Abu Safwan ibn Umayrah said that he came to the Messenger of Allah in Mecca before the Hijrah and related this hadith, but did not mention the man weighing for payment. Abu Dawud said Qays narrated it as Sufyan did, and the version of Sufyan is authoritative.

Ibn Abi Rizmah said: I heard my father say that a man told Shubah, Sufyan disagrees with you. Shubah replied, You have overwhelmed me. I have heard that Yahya ibn Main said, When anyone disagrees with Sufyan, Sufyan is the one to follow.

Shubah said: Sufyan had a better memory than I did.

Ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah said: The standard weight is the weight used by the people of Mecca, and the standard measure is the measure used by the people of Medina. Abu Dawud said al-Firyabi and Abu Ahmad also transmitted it from Sufyan with the same wording. Abu Ahmad named Ibn Abbas instead of Ibn Umar. Al-Walid ibn Muslim transmitted it from Hanzalah with the wording, The weight of Medina and the measure of Mecca. Abu Dawud noted variation in the wording of Malik ibn Dinar report from Ata from the Prophet.

Samurah reported that the Messenger of Allah addressed them and asked three times whether anyone from a certain clan was present. A man then stood and said, I am here, Messenger of Allah. The Prophet asked why he had not answered the first two times, and explained that he had only good news: their companion was being held back because of his debt. Samurah said he later saw the Prophet pay the debt on the man behalf until no one remained with a claim against him. Abu Dawud identified Saman as Saman ibn Mushannaj.

Abu Burdah ibn Abi Musa al-Ashari reported from his father that the Messenger of Allah said: After the major sins Allah has forbidden, one of the gravest sins in Allah sight is for a man to die owing a debt, leaving nothing with which to repay it, and then meet Him with that debt.

Jabir reported that the Messenger of Allah would not perform the funeral prayer for someone who died owing a debt. A deceased man was brought, and the Prophet asked whether he owed anything. They said he owed two dinars. He told them to pray over their companion. Abu Qatadah al-Ansari said, I will take responsibility for them, Messenger of Allah, so the Prophet prayed over him. After Allah granted the Prophet victories, he said, I have greater claim over every believer than the believer has over himself. Whoever leaves a debt, I will repay it; whoever leaves property, it belongs to his heirs.

Ibn Abbas reported that the Prophet made a purchase from a caravan without having its price with him, then sold it at a profit and gave the profit in charity to the widows of Banu Abd al-Muttalib. He said, I will not buy anything again unless I have its price with me.