The Book of Financial Transactions

ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUbayd reported that two men came to Abu ʿUbaydah ibn ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿud disputing the price of an item. Abu ʿUbaydah said that Ibn Masʿud had been presented with a similar case and reported that the Messenger of Allah ordered the seller to swear an oath, then gave the buyer the choice: he could accept the purchase or leave it.

ʿAʾishah reported that the Messenger of Allah bought food from a Jewish man on credit and gave him his armor as a pledge.

Ibn ʿAbbas reported that the Messenger of Allah died while his armor was pawned to a Jewish man for thirty ṣāʿs of barley for his family.

Jabir reported that a man from Banu ʿUdhrah arranged for his enslaved man to be freed upon his death. When the Messenger of Allah learned of it, he asked whether the man had any other property. He said no. The Messenger of Allah asked who would buy the enslaved man, and Nuʿaym ibn ʿAbdullah al-ʿAdawi bought him for eight hundred dirhams. The Messenger of Allah gave the money to the owner and said, “Begin with yourself and give charity to yourself. If anything remains, then to your family; if anything remains after that, then to your relatives; and if anything remains, then here and there”—meaning in front, to the right, and to the left.

Jabir reported that a man among the Ansar, Abu Madhkur, had arranged to free his enslaved man, Yaʿqub, upon his death. Yaʿqub was his only property. The Messenger of Allah called for him and asked who would buy him. Nuʿaym ibn ʿAbdullah bought him for eight hundred dirhams, which the Prophet gave to Abu Madhkur. He said, “If one of you is poor, let him begin with himself; any surplus goes to his dependents, then to his relatives or kin, and any further surplus may go here and there.”

Jabir reported that the Prophet sold a mudabbar, an enslaved person whose emancipation had been set for the owner to die.

ʿAʾishah reported that Barirah came asking for help with her emancipation contract. ʿAʾishah told her to ask her owners whether she could pay the full amount in return for the walaʾ (right of patronage); she would do so if they agreed. They refused, saying that if she wished to seek the reward of freeing Barirah, she could, but the walaʾ would remain theirs. ʿAʾishah told the Messenger of Allah, who said to buy and free her, since walaʾ belongs to the one who frees. He then said, “Why do people stipulate conditions that are not in the Book of Allah? Any condition not in the Book of Allah is invalid, even if there are a hundred conditions. The decree of Allah is more deserving, and the condition of Allah is firmer.”

ʿAʾishah reported that Barirah came to her with an emancipation contract for nine uqiyyahs, one uqiyyah to be paid each year; she had not yet paid anything. ʿAʾishah wanted to pay the whole amount if the owners would assign her the walaʾ. They refused, saying that the walaʾ would remain theirs if ʿAʾishah sought the reward of freeing Barirah. ʿAʾishah told the Messenger of Allah, who said this should not prevent her from buying and freeing Barirah, because walaʾ belongs to the one who frees. She did so. The Messenger of Allah stood before the people, praised Allah, and said, “Why do people stipulate conditions not found in the Book of Allah? Any such condition is invalid, even if there are a hundred. The decree of Allah has greater right, and the condition of Allah is firmer. Walaʾ belongs only to the one who frees.”

ʿAbdullah reported that the Messenger of Allah forbade selling walaʾ or giving it away as a gift.

Ibn ʿUmar reported that the Messenger of Allah forbade selling walaʾ or giving it away as a gift.

Ibn ʿUmar reported that the Messenger of Allah forbade selling walaʾ or giving it away as a gift.

Jabir reported that the Messenger of Allah forbade selling water.

Abu al-Minhal reported that he heard Iyas ibn ʿUmar—identified in one version as Ibn ʿAbd—say that he heard the Messenger of Allah forbid selling water. Qutaybah noted that he had not fully understood some of the wording from Abu al-Minhal.

Iyas reported that the Messenger of Allah forbade selling surplus water. The steward of al-Waht sold the surplus water there, and ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAmr disapproved.

Iyas ibn ʿAbd, a Companion of the Prophet, said, “Do not sell surplus water, for the Prophet forbade selling surplus water.”

Ibn Waʾlah al-Misri asked Ibn ʿAbbas about what is pressed from grapes. Ibn ʿAbbas said that a man gave the Messenger of Allah a skin of wine. The Prophet asked whether he knew that Allah had forbidden it. The man whispered something, which Ibn ʿAbbas did not hear clearly. When the Prophet asked what he had whispered, the man replied that he had advised selling the wine. The Prophet said that the One who forbade drinking it also forbade selling it. The man then opened the two containers and emptied them.

ʿAʾishah reported that when the verses on usury were revealed, the Messenger of Allah stood on the pulpit and recited them to the people, then forbade trade in wine.

Abu Masʿud ʿUqbah ibn ʿAmr reported that the Messenger of Allah forbade payment for a dog, earnings from prostitution, and the fee paid to a fortune-teller.

Ibn ʿAbbas reported that among the things the Messenger of Allah forbade was the price of a dog.

Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah reported that the Messenger of Allah forbade payment for dogs and cats, except for a hunting dog. Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman (al-Nasaʾi) said, “This report is munkar (anomalous).”