Sunan Ibn Majah
The Chapters on Business Transactions
كتاب التجارات
Chapter 58
التَّغْلِيظِ فِي الرِّبَا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud reported that the Messenger of Allah cursed the one who consumes usury, the one who pays it, its two witnesses, and its scribe.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source lists the usury recipient, payer, two witnesses, and scribe.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘A time will surely come upon people when no one among them will remain without consuming usury. Whoever does not consume it will still be touched by its dust.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report contrasts direct consumption of usury with being affected by its ‘dust’, retaining the source’s metaphor.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud reported that the Prophet said: ‘No one engages in abundant usury except that his affairs ultimately come to scarcity.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The concise Arabic wording literally says that the end of the person’s affair is toward scarcity; the report does not specify whether this refers to wealth or broader consequences.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " مَا أَحَدٌ أَكْثَرَ مِنَ الرِّبَا إِلاَّ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ أَمْرِهِ إِلَى قِلَّةٍ " .
The report says that the outcome of abundant usury is ‘to scarcity’ but does not specify whether this means loss of wealth or broader decline.
What aspect of the person’s affairs is meant by the resulting scarcity?
Chapter 59
السَّلَفِ فِي كَيْلٍ مَعْلُومٍ وَوَزْنٍ مَعْلُومٍ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مَعْلُومٍ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn ʿAbbas said: The Prophet came while people were paying in advance for dates two or three years ahead. He said: ‘Whoever pays in advance for dates must do so for a specified measure, a specified weight, and a specified term.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report specifies the quantity by measure and weight and fixes the delivery term, without giving a particular value or date.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbdullah ibn Salam said: A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘The sons of so-and-so—a group of Jews—have become Muslims, and they are hungry. I fear they may apostatize.’ The Prophet asked, ‘Who has something available?’ A Jewish man said, ‘I have such-and-such’—the narrator says, ‘about something he named; I think he said three hundred dinars’—‘at such-and-such a price, to be supplied from the orchard of the sons of so-and-so.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘At such-and-such a price, for such-and-such a term, but not from the orchard of the sons of so-and-so.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The narrator explicitly marks the quantity as uncertain (‘I think he said three hundred dinars’). The unspecified price and term are left as such. The source restriction against delivery from the named orchard is retained.
فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْيَهُودِ عِنْدِي كَذَا وَكَذَا - لِشَىْءٍ قَدْ سَمَّاهُ أُرَاهُ قَالَ ثَلاَثُمِائَةِ دِينَارٍ بِسِعْرِ كَذَا وَكَذَا مِنْ حَائِطِ بَنِي فُلاَنٍ .
The narrator is unsure of the named amount and says he thinks it was three hundred dinars; what commodity or amount was offered is not otherwise explicit.
What exactly did the Jewish man offer, and was the amount three hundred dinars?
فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " بِسِعْرِ كَذَا وَكَذَا إِلَى أَجَلِ كَذَا وَكَذَا وَلَيْسَ مِنْ حَائِطِ بَنِي فُلاَنٍ " .
The Prophet’s reply specifies an unspecified price and term and excludes supply from the named orchard, without elaborating the commodity or quantity.
Does the response refer to a forward sale with a specified price and term but an alternative source of delivery?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbdullah ibn Shaddad and Abu Burdah disagreed about advance payment for later delivery, so they sent me to ʿAbdullah ibn Abi Awfa. I asked him, and he said: ‘In the time of the Messenger of Allah, and in the time of Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, we used to make advance purchases of wheat, barley, raisins, and dates from people who had those goods.’ I then asked Ibn Abza, and he said the same.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The two transmitters differ slightly in how they introduce Ibn Abi al-Mujalid in the chain; both routes converge on the same report. ‘Advance purchases’ renders salam, payment now for goods delivered later.
- قَالَ امْتَرَى عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ شَدَّادٍ وَأَبُو بُرْدَةَ فِي السَّلَمِ فَأَرْسَلُونِي إِلَى عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي أَوْفَى فَسَأَلْتُهُ فَقَالَ كُنَّا نُسْلِمُ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ وَعَهْدِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ فِي الْحِنْطَةِ وَالشَّعِيرِ وَالزَّبِيبِ وَالتَّمْرِ عِنْدَ قَوْمٍ مَا عِنْدَهُمْ .
The wording ‘with people who had what they had’ indicates the counterparties had the goods, but does not specify further whether this means current stock or production capacity.
Does the phrase simply indicate that the counterparties had those goods available?
Chapter 60
مَنْ أَسْلَمَ فِي شَىْءٍ فَلاَ يَصْرِفْهُ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Saʿid reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘When you pay in advance for something, do not exchange it for something else.’ A second chain reports the same wording but omits Saʿd from the chain.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The verb here means to exchange or substitute the contracted item for another. The report’s second chain explicitly omits Saʿd.
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " إِذَا أَسْلَفْتَ فِي شَىْءٍ فَلاَ تَصْرِفْهُ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ " .
The instruction not to ‘exchange it’ does not specify whether this forbids changing the commodity in the contract or transferring the claim to another party.
What kind of substitution is prohibited here?
Chapter 61
إِذَا أَسْلَمَ فِي نَخْلٍ بِعَيْنِهِ لَمْ يُطْلِعْ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
A man from Najran said: I asked ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar, ‘May I pay in advance for dates still on the palms before they begin to bear?’ He said, ‘No.’ I asked why, and he said: ‘In the time of the Messenger of Allah, a man paid in advance for the crop of a palm garden before the trees bore fruit. That year they produced nothing. The buyer said, “It belongs to me until the trees bear fruit.” The seller said, “I sold you only the palms’ crop for this year.” They brought their dispute to the Messenger of Allah. He asked the seller, “Did he receive anything from your palms?” He said, “No.” The Prophet said, “How can you deem his wealth lawful for yourself? Return to him what you took from him, and do not pay in advance for palm crops until their soundness becomes apparent.”’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The dispute concerns a forward payment tied to a particular palm garden’s crop, which failed that year. ‘Until their soundness becomes apparent’ translates the wording about the palms’ صلاح, the point at which the crop’s condition is evident.
قَالَ قُلْتُ لِعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ أُسْلِمُ فِي نَخْلٍ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُطْلِعَ قَالَ لاَ .
The opening uses the technical forward-sale verb with ‘palms’ as the subject matter; the later story clarifies that it concerns a specified garden’s crop.
Does ‘pay in advance for dates still on the palms’ capture the transaction being asked about?
قَالَ " فَبِمَ تَسْتَحِلُّ مَالَهُ ارْدُدْ عَلَيْهِ مَا أَخَذْتَ مِنْهُ وَلاَ تُسْلِمُوا فِي نَخْلٍ حَتَّى يَبْدُوَ صَلاَحُهُ " .
The phrase ‘until their soundness becomes apparent’ uses the technical term ṣalāḥ and does not further define which visible sign is meant.
What observable sign of ripeness or soundness is intended here?
Chapter 62
السَّلَمِ فِي الْحَيَوَانِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Rafiʿ reported that the Prophet borrowed a young camel from a man and said, ‘When the charity camels arrive, we will repay you.’ When they arrived, he said, ‘Abu Rafiʿ, repay this man with his young camel.’ I found only a four-year-old camel or older, so I informed the Prophet. He said, ‘Give it to him, for the best of people are those best in repayment.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Bakar is a young camel; rubaʿi refers to a camel of a more mature age, commonly rendered as four-year-old. The wording ‘or older’ is explicit.
فَلَمْ أَجِدْ إِلاَّ رَبَاعِيًا فَصَاعِدًا فَأَخْبَرْتُ النَّبِيَّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقَالَ " أَعْطِهِ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ النَّاسِ أَحْسَنُهُمْ قَضَاءً " .
The age category rubaʿi is a traditional livestock age designation; the source says it or older, while exact modern age reckoning may vary.
Is ‘four-year-old camel or older’ the desired rendering of rubaʿi fa-saʿidan?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Al-ʿIrbad ibn Sariyah said: I was with the Prophet when a Bedouin said, ‘Repay me for my young camel.’ He gave him a mature camel. The Bedouin said, ‘Messenger of Allah, this one is older than my camel.’ The Messenger of Allah replied, ‘The best of people are those best in repayment.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source contrasts the young camel owed with the mature camel given in repayment.
Chapter 63
الشَّرِكَةِ وَالْمُضَارَبَةِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Al-Saʾib said to the Prophet: ‘You were my partner in the pre-Islamic era, and you were the best of partners. You never dealt with me unfairly, and you never disputed with me.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The two descriptions convey fair, agreeable partnership; the second explicitly refers to not disputing or arguing.
قَالَ لِلنَّبِيِّ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ كُنْتَ شَرِيكِي فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَكُنْتَ خَيْرَ شَرِيكٍ كُنْتَ لاَ تُدَارِينِي وَكُنْتَ لاَ تُمَارِينِي .
The verb tudārini can suggest accommodating or dealing considerately, while the paired verb tumārini clearly concerns dispute.
Is ‘never dealt with me unfairly’ the intended sense of tudārini in this compliment?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAbdullah said: Saʿd, ʿAmmar, and I shared in whatever we might capture on the day of Badr. Neither ʿAmmar nor I brought back anything, but Saʿd brought back two men.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report says ‘two men’; in the context of Badr spoils, they are understood as captives, but the source does not explicitly use that term.
يَوْمَ بَدْرٍ فِيمَا نُصِيبُ فَلَمْ أَجِئْ أَنَا وَلاَ عَمَّارٌ بِشَىْءٍ وَجَاءَ سَعْدٌ بِرَجُلَيْنِ .
The source says Saʿd brought back two men, without explicitly specifying their status; the context indicates captured men among the spoils.
Should the two men be identified explicitly as captives, as context suggests?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Suhayb reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘There are three things that contain blessing: selling on deferred terms, profit-sharing, and mixing wheat with barley for household use, not for sale.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
Muqarada is rendered ‘profit-sharing’, a financing arrangement in which one party provides capital and another manages the trade. The source expressly limits mixing wheat and barley to household use rather than resale.
Chapter 64
مَا لِلرَّجُلِ مِنْ مَالِ وَلَدِهِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAishah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘The best of what you eat is what you earn, and your children are part of what you earn.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The wording links lawful sustenance to one’s own earnings and describes children as part of those earnings.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah reported that a man said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I have wealth and children, and my father wants to take all my wealth.’ He replied, ‘You and your wealth belong to your father.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The verb yajtaḥ means to take or consume a person’s property in full; ‘take all my wealth’ conveys the man’s stated concern. The Prophet’s reply is translated as worded.
قَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ لِي مَالاً وَوَلَدًا وَإِنَّ أَبِي يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَجْتَاحَ مَالِي فَقَالَ " أَنْتَ وَمَالُكَ لأَبِيكَ " .
The verb yajtaḥ suggests taking or consuming the man’s wealth in full; the exact manner of taking is not specified.
Does the concern refer to the father taking all of the man’s property?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘My father has taken all my wealth.’ He replied, ‘You and your wealth belong to your father.’ The Messenger of Allah also said, ‘Your children are among the best of what you earn, so consume from their wealth.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report repeats the statement that a person and his property belong to his father, then adds the statement about children as part of one’s good earnings and permission to consume from their property.
وَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " إِنَّ أَوْلاَدَكُمْ مِنْ أَطْيَبِ كَسْبِكُمْ فَكُلُوا مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ " .
The closing imperative says ‘eat from their wealth’ and does not state further limits or circumstances in this excerpt.
Should ‘consume from their wealth’ be understood literally as stated, without adding a qualification absent from the text?
Chapter 65
مَا لِلْمَرْأَةِ مِنْ مَالِ زَوْجِهَا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAishah reported: Hind came to the Prophet and said, ‘Messenger of Allah, Abu Sufyan is a stingy man. He does not give me enough for myself and my child, except what I take from his wealth without his knowledge.’ He said, ‘Take what is sufficient for you and your child, in a fair and customary manner.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source states both that Abu Sufyan does not provide enough and that Hind takes from his property without his knowledge. The Prophet’s instruction is limited by what is sufficient and by customary fairness.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
ʿAishah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘When a woman spends from her husband’s household without causing harm, she receives her reward, he receives the like of it for what he earned, she receives reward for what she spent, and the storekeeper receives the like of that—without any of their rewards being diminished.’ The narrator’s father said in his version: ‘When a woman feeds others’ from her husband’s household.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source explicitly preserves a wording variant: ‘spends’ in one route and ‘feeds’ in the narrator’s father’s report. The condition ghayra mufsidah means without causing damage or waste.
قَالَتْ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " إِذَا أَنْفَقَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ - وَقَالَ أَبِي فِي حَدِيثِهِ إِذَا أَطْعَمَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ - مِنْ بَيْتِ زَوْجِهَا غَيْرَ مُفْسِدَةٍ كَانَ لَهَا أَجْرُهَا وَلَهُ مِثْلُهُ بِمَا اكْتَسَبَ وَلَهَا بِمَا أَنْفَقَتْ وَلِلْخَازِنِ مِثْلُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ غَيْرِ أَنْ يَنْقُصَ مِنْ أُجُوِرِهِمْ شَيْئًا " .
The phrase ‘without causing harm or waste’ does not specify whether the condition concerns the quantity spent or the use made of it.
What precisely is the scope of the condition ghayra mufsidah?
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Umamah al-Bahili reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘A woman must not spend anything from her household without her husband’s permission.’ They asked, ‘Not even food, Messenger of Allah?’ He replied, ‘That is our most valuable property.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report states the permission condition and explicitly includes food in the question. ‘Most valuable property’ translates afḍal amwālina literally as the best or finest of our possessions.
قَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَلاَ الطَّعَامَ قَالَ " ذَلِكَ أَفْضَلُ أَمْوَالِنَا " .
The phrase ‘that is the best of our property’ refers to food, but the reason it is described this way is not explained.
Does the final phrase simply emphasize the value of food as household property?
Chapter 66
مَا لِلْعَبْدِ أَنْ يُعْطِيَ وَيَتَصَدَّقَ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Anas ibn Malik said that the Messenger of Allah used to accept an enslaved person’s invitation.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report uses the general term for an enslaved person and does not identify the host further.