Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 2579
أَخْبَرَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ حَبِيبِ بْنِ عَرَبِيٍّ، عَنْ حَمَّادٍ، عَنْ هَارُونَ بْنِ رِئَابٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي كِنَانَةُ بْنُ نُعَيْمٍ، ح وَأَخْبَرَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ حُجْرٍ، - وَاللَّفْظُ لَهُ - قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ، عَنْ أَيُّوبَ، عَنْ هَارُونَ، عَنْ كِنَانَةَ بْنِ نُعَيْمٍ، عَنْ قَبِيصَةَ بْنِ مُخَارِقٍ، قَالَ تَحَمَّلْتُ حَمَالَةً فَأَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَسَأَلْتُهُ فِيهَا فَقَالَ " إِنَّ الْمَسْأَلَةَ لاَ تَحِلُّ إِلاَّ لِثَلاَثَةٍ رَجُلٍ تَحَمَّلَ بِحَمَالَةٍ بَيْنَ قَوْمٍ فَسَأَلَ فِيهَا حَتَّى يُؤَدِّيَهَا ثُمَّ يُمْسِكَ " .
Yahya ibn Habib ibn Arabi reported from Hammad, from Harun ibn Riab, who said: Kinanah ibn Nuaim related to me. [A second chain:] Ali ibn Hujr reported—and this is the wording—from Ismail, from Ayyub, from Harun, from Kinanah ibn Nuaim, from Qabisah ibn Mukhariq, who said: I undertook a financial liability and came to the Prophet ﷺ to ask him for help with it. He said: Asking is not lawful except for three people: a man who undertakes a financial liability among a group of people and asks for help with it until he pays it off, then he must stop.
Translation notes
The source gives two routes and identifies Ali ibn Hujr version as the wording used. The financial arrangement is rendered generally as a liability and flagged for review; the text ends after the first category, so no further categories are supplied.
قَالَ تَحَمَّلْتُ حَمَالَةً فَأَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَسَأَلْتُهُ فِيهَا فَقَالَ " إِنَّ الْمَسْأَلَةَ لاَ تَحِلُّ إِلاَّ لِثَلاَثَةٍ رَجُلٍ تَحَمَّلَ بِحَمَالَةٍ بَيْنَ قَوْمٍ فَسَأَلَ فِيهَا حَتَّى يُؤَدِّيَهَا ثُمَّ يُمْسِكَ " .
Hamalah refers to a financial liability or guarantee undertaken between people, but the precise arrangement is not stated here.
Should hamalah be rendered as a guarantee, a debt obligation, or a broader financial liability?