Gold is to be paid for by gold, silver by silver, wheat by wheat, barley by barley, dates by dates, salt by salt, like by like, payment being made hand to hand. He who made an addition to it, or asked for an addition, in fact dealt in usury. The receiver and the giver are equally guilty.
The Prohibition of Riba in Barter Transactions
This noble hadith from Sahih Muslim establishes the fundamental principles governing transactions involving specific commodities known as "ribawi items." The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) explicitly prohibits any form of usury (riba) in the exchange of these six specified items: gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates, and salt.
Conditions for Permissible Exchange
For a valid and Islamically compliant transaction of these items, two strict conditions must be met simultaneously. First, the exchange must be "like for like" (mithlan bi-mithlin) in both quantity and quality when trading the same kind of commodity. Second, the transfer of possession must be "hand to hand" (yadan bi-yadin), meaning immediate settlement without delay.
Scholarly Commentary on Riba al-Fadl
The prohibition against "addition" refers to Riba al-Fadl - the excess taken in exchange of the same kind of commodity. Classical scholars explain that this safeguards justice and prevents hidden usury. The wisdom behind specifying these particular commodities lies in their function as either monetary standards (gold and silver) or staple food items measured by weight or volume.
Equal Responsibility in Sin
The hadith concludes with a severe warning that both parties to a usurious transaction - the one who gives the excess and the one who receives it - share equally in the sin. This emphasizes that compliance with Islamic commercial law is a collective responsibility, and no participant in a forbidden transaction can claim innocence.