Muwatta Imam Malik — Business Transactions

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that Ata ibn Yasar said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Dried dates for dried dates is like for like.' It was said to him, 'Your agent in Khaybar takes one sa for two.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'all him to me.' So he was called for. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked, 'Do you take one sa for two?' He replied, 'Messengerof Allah! Why should they sell me good dates for assorted low quality dates, sa for sa!' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Sell the assorted ones for dirhams, and then buy the good ones with those dirhams

حدثني يحيى، عن مالك، عن زيد بن اسلم، عن عطاء بن يسار، انه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " التمر بالتمر مثلا بمثل " . فقيل له ان عاملك على خيبر ياخذ الصاع بالصاعين . فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " ادعوه لي " . فدعي له فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " اتاخذ الصاع بالصاعين " . فقال يا رسول الله لا يبيعونني الجنيب بالجمع صاعا بصاع . فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " بع الجمع بالدراهم ثم ابتع بالدراهم جنيبا

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd al-Hamid ibn Suhayl ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf from Said ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Said al- Khudri and from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, appointed a man as an agent in Khaybar, and he brought him some excellent dates. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Are all the dates of Khaybar like this?" He said,"No. By Allah, Messenger of Allah! We take a sa of this kind for two sa or two sa for three." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Do not do that. Sell the assorted ones for dirhams and then buy the good ones with the dirhams

وحدثني عن مالك، عن عبد الحميد بن سهيل بن عبد الرحمن بن عوف، عن سعيد بن المسيب، عن ابي سعيد الخدري، وعن ابي هريرة، ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم استعمل رجلا على خيبر فجاءه بتمر جنيب فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " اكل تمر خيبر هكذا " . فقال لا والله يا رسول الله انا لناخذ الصاع من هذا بالصاعين والصاعين بالثلاثة . فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " لا تفعل بع الجمع بالدراهم ثم ابتع بالدراهم جنيبا

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Yazid that Zayd ibn Ayyash told him that he had once asked Sad ibn Abi Waqqas about selling white wheat for a type of good barley. Sad asked him which was the better and when he told him the white wheat, he forbade the transaction. Sad said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, being asked about selling dried dates for fresh dates, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Do the dates diminish in size when they become dry?' When he was told that they did, he forbade that

وحدثني عن مالك، عن عبد الله بن يزيد، ان زيدا ابا عياش، اخبره انه، سال سعد بن ابي وقاص عن البيضاء، بالسلت فقال له سعد ايتهما افضل قال البيضاء . فنهاه عن ذلك . وقال سعد سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يسال عن اشتراء التمر بالرطب فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " اينقص الرطب اذا يبس " . فقالوا نعم . فنهى عن ذلك

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade muzabana. Muzabana was selling fresh dates for dried dates by measure, and selling grapes for raisins by measure

حدثني يحيى، عن مالك، عن نافع، عن عبد الله بن عمر، ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى عن المزابنة والمزابنة بيع الثمر بالتمر كيلا وبيع الكرم بالزبيب كيلا

Yahya related to me from Malik from Da'ud ibn al-Husayn from Abu Sufyan, the mawla of Ibn Abi Ahmad, from Abu Said al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade muzabana and muhaqala. Muzabana was selling fresh dates for dried dates while they were still on the trees. Muhaqala was renting land in exchange for wheat

وحدثني عن مالك، عن داود بن الحصين، عن ابي سفيان، مولى ابن ابي احمد عن ابي سعيد الخدري، ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى عن المزابنة والمحاقلة والمزابنة اشتراء الثمر بالتمر في رءوس النخل والمحاقلة كراء الارض بالحنطة

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade muzabana and muhaqala. Muzabana was selling fresh dates for dried dates. Muhaqala was buying unharvested wheat in exchange for threshed wheat and renting land in exchange for wheat. Ibn Shihab added that he had asked Said ibn al-Musayyab about renting land for gold and silver. He said, "There is no harm in it." Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade muzabana. The explanation of muzabana is that it is buying something whose number, weight and measure is not known with something whose number, weight or measure is known, for instance, if a man has a stack of food whose measure is not known, either of wheat, dates, or whatever food, or the man has goods of wheat, date kernels, herbs, safflower, cotton, flax, silk, and does not know its measure or weight or number and then a buyer approaches him and proposes that he weigh or measure or count the goods, but, before he does, he specifies a certain weight, or measure, or number and guarantees to pay the price for that amount, agreeing that whatever falls short of that amount is a loss against him and whatever is in excess of that amount is a gain for him. That is not a sale. It is taking risks and it is an uncertain transaction. It falls into the category of gambling because he is not buying something from him for something definite which he pays. Everything which resembles this is also forbidden." Malik said that another example of that was, for instance, a man proposing to another man, "You have cloth. I will guarantee you from this cloth of yours so many hooded cloaks, the measureof each cloak to be such-and-such, (naming a measurement). Whatever loss there is, is against me and I will fulfill you the specified amount and whatever excess there is, is mine." Or perhaps the man proposed, "I will guarantee you from this cloth of yours so many shirts, the measurement of each shirt to be such-and-such, and whatever loss there is, is against me and I will fulfill the specified amount and whatever excess there is, is mine." Or perhaps a man proposed to a man who had cattle or camel hides, "I will cut up these hides of yours into sandals on a pattern I will show you. Whatever falls short of a hundred pairs, I will make up its loss and whatever is over is mine because I guaranteed you." Another example was that a man say to a man who had ben-nuts, "I will press these nuts of yours. Whatever falls short of such-and-such a weight by the pound, I will make it up, and whatever is more than that is mine." Malik said that all this and whatever else was like it or resembled it was in the category of muzabana, which was neither good nor permitted. It was also the same case for a man to say to a man, who had fodder leaves, date kernels, cotton, flax, herbs or safflower, "I will buy these leaves from you in exchange for such-and-such a sa, (indicating leaves which are pounded like his leaves) . . or these date kernels for such-and-such a sa of kernels like them, and the like of that in the case of safflower, cotton, flax and herbs." Malik said, "All this is what we have described of muzabana

Malik said, "There is no harm in buying dates from specified trees or a specified orchard or buying milk from specified sheep when the buyer starts to take them as soon as he has payed the price. That is like buying oil from a container. A man buys some of it for a dinar or two and gives his gold and stipulates that it be measured out for him. There is no harm in that. If the container breaks and the oil is wasted, the buyer has his gold back and there is no transaction between them." Malik said, "There is no harm in everything which is taken right away as it is, like fresh milk and fresh picked dates which the buyer can take on a day-to-day basis. If the supply runs out before the buyer has what he has paid for in full, the seller gives him back the portion of the gold that is owed to him, or else the buyer takes other goods from him to the value of what he is owed and which they mutually agree about. The buyer should stay with the seller until he has taken it. It is disapproved of for the seller to leave because the transaction would then come into the forbidden category of a debt for a debt. If a stated time period for payment or delivery enters into the transaction, it is also disapproved. Delay and deferment are not permitted in it, and are only acceptable when it is standard practice on definite terms by which the seller guarantees it to the buyer, but this is not to be from one specific orchard or from any specific ewes." Malik was asked about a man who bought an orchard from another man in which there were various types of palm-trees - excellent ajwa palms, good kabis palms, adhq palms and othertypes. The seller kept aside from the sale the produce of a certain palm of his choice. Malik said, "That is not good because if he does that, and keeps aside, for instance, dates of the ajwa variety whose yield would be 15 sa, and he picks the dates of the kabis in their place, and the yield of their dates is 10 sa or he picks the ajwa which yield 15 sa and leaves the kabis which yield 10 sa, it is as if he bought the ajwa for the kabis making allowances for their difference of quality. This is the same as if a man dealing with a man who has heaps of dates before him - a heap of 15 sa of ajwa, a heap of 10 sa of kabis, and a heap of 12 sa of cadhq, gives the owner of the dates a dinar to let him choose and take whichever of the heaps he likes." Malik said, "That is not good." Malik was asked what a man who bought fresh dates from the owner of an orchard and advanced him a dinar was entitled to if the crop was spoilt. Malik said, "The buyer makes a reckoning with the owner of the orchard and takes what is due to him of the dinar. If the buyer has taken two-thirds of a dinar's worth of dates, he gets back the third of a dinar which is owed him. If the buyer has taken three-quarters of a dinar's worth of dates, then he gets back the quarter which is owed to him, or they come to a mutual agreement, and the buyer takes what is owed him from his dinar from the owner of the orchard in something else of his choosing. If, for instance, he prefers to take dry dates or some other goods, he takes them according to what is due. If he takes dry dates or some other goods, he should stay with him until he has been paid in full." Malik said, "This is the same situation as hiring out a specified riding-camel or hiring out a slave tailor, carpenter or some other kind of worker or letting a house and taking payment in advance for the hire of the slave or the rent of the house or camel. Then an accident happens to what has been hired resulting in death or something else. The owner of the camel, slave or house returns what remains of the rent of the camel, the hire of the slave or the rent of the house to the one who advanced him the money, and the owner reckons what will settle that up in full. If, for instance, he has provided half of what the man paid for, he returns the remaining half of what he advanced, or according to whatever amount is due." Malik said, "Paying in advance for something which is on hand is only good when the buyer takes possession of what he has paid for as soon as he hands over the gold, whether it be slave, camel, or house, or in the case of dates, he starts to pick them as soon as he has paid the money." It is not good that there be any deferment or credit in such a transaction. Malik said, "An example illustrating what is disapproved of in this situation is that, for instance, a man may say that he will pay someone in advance for the use of his camel to ride in the hajj, and the hajj is still some time off, or he may say something similar to that about a slave or a house. When he does that, he only pays the money in advance on the understanding that if he finds the camel to be sound at the time the hire is due to begin, he will take it by virtue of what he has already paid. If an accident, or death, or something happens to the camel, then he will get his money back and the money he paid in advance will be considered as a loan." Malik said, "This is distinct from someone who takes immediate possession of what he rents or hires, so that it does not fall into the category of 'uncertainty,' or disapproved payment in advance. That is following a common practice. An example of that is that a man buys a slave, or slave-girl, and takes possession of them and pays their price. If something happens to them within the period of the year indemnification contract, he takes his gold back from the one from whom he bought it. There is no harm in that. This is the precedent of the sunna in the matter of selling slaves." Malik said, "Someone who rents a specified slave, or hires a specified camel, for a future date, at which time he will take possession of the camel or slave, has not acted properly because he did not take possession of what he rented or hired, nor is he advancing a loan which the person is responsible to pay back." Malik said, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us is that some one who buys some fruit, fresh or dry, should not resell it until he gets full possession of it. He should not barter things of the same type, except hand to hand. Whatever can be made into dry fruit to be stored and eaten, should not be bartered for its own kind, except hand to hand, like for like, when it is the same kind of fruit. In the case of two different kinds of fruit, there is no harm in bartering two of one kind for one of another, hand to hand on the spot. It is not good to set delayed terms. As for produce which is not dried and stored but is eaten fresh like water melon, cucumber, melon, carrots, citron, medlars, pomegranates, and soon, which when dried no longer counts as fruit, and is not a thing which is stored up as is fruit, I think that it is quite proper to barter such things two for one of the same variety hand to hand. If no term enters into it, there is no harm in it." Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said, "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, ordered the two Sads to sell a vessel made of either gold or silver from the booty. They either sold each three units of weight for four units of weight of coins or each four units of weight for three units of weight or coins. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to them, 'You have taken usury, so return it

Yahya related to me from Malik from Musa ibn Abi Tamim from Abu'l Hubab Said ibn Yasar from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "A dinar for a dinar, a dirham for a dirham, no excess between the two

وحدثني عن مالك، عن موسى بن ابي تميم، عن ابي الحباب، سعيد بن يسار عن ابي هريرة، ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال " الدينار بالدينار والدرهم بالدرهم لا فضل بينهما

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abu Said al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Do not sell gold for gold except like for like and do not increase one part over another part. Do not sell silver for silver, except like for like and do not increase one part over another part. Do not sell some of it which is not there for some of it which is

وحدثني عن مالك، عن نافع، عن ابي سعيد الخدري، ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال " لا تبيعوا الذهب بالذهب الا مثلا بمثل ولا تشفوا بعضها على بعض ولا تبيعوا الورق بالورق الا مثلا بمثل ولا تشفوا بعضها على بعض ولا تبيعوا منها شييا غايبا بناجز

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd ibn Qays al-Makki that Mujahid said, "I was with Abdullah ibn Umar and an artisan came to him and said, 'Abu Abd ar-Rahman - I fashion gold and then sell what I have made for more than its weight. I take an amount equivalent to the work of my hand.' Abdullah forbade him to do that, so the artisan repeated the question to him, and Abdullah continued to forbid him until he came to the door of the mosque or to an animal that he intended to mount. Then Abdullah ibn Umar said, 'A dinar for a dinar, and a dirham for a dirham. There is no increase between them. This is the command of ourProphet to us and our advice to you

وحدثني عن مالك، عن حميد بن قيس المكي، عن مجاهد، انه قال كنت مع عبد الله بن عمر فجاءه صايغ فقال له يا ابا عبد الرحمن اني اصوغ الذهب ثم ابيع الشىء من ذلك باكثر من وزنه فاستفضل من ذلك قدر عمل يدي . فنهاه عبد الله عن ذلك فجعل الصايغ يردد عليه المسالة وعبد الله ينهاه حتى انتهى الى باب المسجد او الى دابة يريد ان يركبها ثم قال عبد الله بن عمر الدينار بالدينار والدرهم بالدرهم لا فضل بينهما هذا عهد نبينا الينا وعهدنا اليكم

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard from his grandfather, Malik ibn Abi Amir that Uthman ibn Affan said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to me, 'Do not sell a dinar for two dinars nor a dirham for two dirhams

وحدثني عن مالك، انه بلغه عن جده، مالك بن ابي عامر ان عثمان بن عفان، قال قال لي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " لا تبيعوا الدينار بالدينارين ولا الدرهم بالدرهمين

Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibn Yasar that Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan sold a gold or silver drinking- vessel for more than its weight. Abu'dDarda said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbidding such sales except like for like." Muawiya said to him, "I don't see any harm in it." Abu'd-Darda said to him, "Who will excuse me from Muawiya? I tell him something from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he gives me his own opinion! I will not live in the same land as you!" Then Abu'd-Darda went to Umar ibn al-Khattab and mentioned that to him. Umar ibn al-Khattab therefore wrote to Muawiya, "Do not sell it except like for like, weight for weight

وحدثني عن مالك، عن زيد بن اسلم، عن عطاء بن يسار، ان معاوية بن ابي سفيان، باع سقاية من ذهب او ورق باكثر من وزنها فقال ابو الدرداء سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ينهى عن مثل هذا الا مثلا بمثل . فقال له معاوية ما ارى بمثل هذا باسا . فقال ابو الدرداء من يعذرني من معاوية انا اخبره عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ويخبرني عن رايه لا اساكنك بارض انت بها . ثم قدم ابو الدرداء على عمر بن الخطاب فذكر ذلك له فكتب عمر بن الخطاب الى معاوية ان لا تبيع ذلك الا مثلا بمثل وزنا بوزن

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "Do not sell gold for gold except like for like, and do not increase one part over another part. Do not sell silver for silver except like for like, and do not increase one part over another part. Do not sell silver for gold, one of them at hand and the other to be given later. If someone seeks to delay paying you until he has been to his house, do not leave him. I fear rama for you." Rama is usury

وحدثني عن مالك، عن نافع، عن عبد الله بن عمر، ان عمر بن الخطاب، قال لا تبيعوا الذهب بالذهب الا مثلا بمثل ولا تشفوا بعضها على بعض ولا تبيعوا الورق بالورق الا مثلا بمثل ولا تشفوا بعضها على بعض ولا تبيعوا الورق بالذهب احدهما غايب والاخر ناجز وان استنظرك الى ان يلج بيته فلا تنظره اني اخاف عليكم الرماء والرماء هو الربا

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar from Abdullah ibn Umar that Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "Do not sell gold for gold except like for like. Do not increase part of it over another part. Do not sell silver for silver except like for like, and do not increase part of it over another part. Do not sell some of it which is there for some of it which is not. If someone asks you to wait for payment until he has been to his house, do not leave him. I fear rama for you." Rama is usury

وحدثني عن مالك، عن عبد الله بن دينار، عن عبد الله بن عمر، ان عمر بن الخطاب، قال لا تبيعوا الذهب بالذهب الا مثلا بمثل ولا تشفوا بعضها على بعض ولا تبيعوا الورق بالورق الا مثلا بمثل ولا تشفوا بعضها على بعض ولا تبيعوا شييا منها غايبا بناجز . وان استنظرك الى ان يلج بيته فلا تنظره اني اخاف عليكم الرماء والرماء هو الربا

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that al-Oasim ibn Muhammad said, ''Umar ibn al-Khattab said, 'A dinar for a dinar, and a dirham for adirham, and a sa for a sa. Something to be collected later is not to be sold for something at hand

وحدثني عن مالك، انه بلغه عن القاسم بن محمد، انه قال قال عمر بن الخطاب الدينار بالدينار والدرهم بالدرهم والصاع بالصاع ولا يباع كالي بناجز

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'z-Zinad heard Said ibn al-Musayyab say, "There is usury only in gold or silver or what is weighed or measured of what is eaten or drunk

وحدثني عن مالك، عن ابي الزناد، انه سمع سعيد بن المسيب، يقول لا ربا الا في ذهب او فضة او ما يكال او يوزن بما يوكل او يشرب

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said heard Said ibn al-Musayyab say, "Keeping gold and silver out of circulation is part of working corruption in the land." Malik said, "There is no harm in buying gold with silver or silver with gold without measuring if it is unminted or a piece of jewellery which has been made. Counted dirhams and counted dinars should not be bought without reckoning until they are known and counted. To abandon number and buy them at random would only be to speculate. That is not part of the business transactions of Muslims. As for what is weighed of unminted objects and jewellery, there is no harm in buying such things without measuring. To buy them without measuring is like buying wheat, dried dates, and such food-stuffs, which are sold without measuring, even though things like them are measured " Malik spoke about buying a Qur'an, a sword or a signet ring which had some gold or silver work on it with dinars or dirhams. He said, "The value of the object bought with dinars, which has gold in it is looked at. If the value of the gold is up to one-third of the price, it is permitted and there is no harm in it if the sale is hand to hand and there is no deferment in it. When something is bought with silver which has silver in it, the value is looked at. If the value of the silver is one- third, it is permitted and there is no harm in it if the sale is hand to hand. That is still the way of doing things among us

وحدثني عن مالك، عن يحيى بن سعيد، انه سمع سعيد بن المسيب، يقول قطع الذهب والورق من الفساد في الارض . قال مالك ولا باس ان يشتري الرجل الذهب بالفضة والفضة بالذهب جزافا اذا كان تبرا او حليا قد صيغ فاما الدراهم المعدودة والدنانير المعدودة فلا ينبغي لاحد ان يشتري ذلك جزافا حتى يعلم ويعد فان اشتري ذلك جزافا فانما يراد به الغرر حين يترك عده ويشترى جزافا وليس هذا من بيوع المسلمين فاما ما كان يوزن من التبر والحلى فلا باس ان يباع ذلك جزافا وانما ابتياع ذلك جزافا كهيية الحنطة والتمر ونحوهما من الاطعمة التي تباع جزافا ومثلها يكال فليس بابتياع ذلك جزافا باس . قال مالك من اشترى مصحفا او سيفا او خاتما وفي شىء من ذلك ذهب او فضة بدنانير او دراهم فان ما اشتري من ذلك وفيه الذهب بدنانير فانه ينظر الى قيمته فان كانت قيمة ذلك الثلثين وقيمة ما فيه من الذهب الثلث فذلك جايز لا باس به اذا كان ذلك يدا بيد ولا يكون فيه تاخير وما اشتري من ذلك بالورق مما فيه الورق نظر الى قيمته فان كان قيمة ذلك الثلثين وقيمة ما فيه من الورق الثلث فذلك جايز لا باس به اذا كان ذلك يدا بيد ولم يزل ذلك من امر الناس عندنا

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Malik ibn Aus ibn al-Hadathan an-Nasri that one time he asked to exchange 100 dinars. He said, "Talha ibn Ubaydullah called me over and we made a mutual agreement that he would make an exchange for me. He took the gold and turned it about in his hand, and then said, 'I can't do it until my treasurer brings the money to me from al-Ghaba.' Umar ibn al- Khattab was listening and Umar said, 'By Allah! Do not leave him until you have taken it from him!' Then he said, 'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Gold for silver is usury except hand to hand. Wheat for wheat is usury except hand to hand. Dates for dates is usury except hand to hand. Barley for barley is usury except hand to hand." "' Malik said, "When a man buys dirhams with dinars and then finds a bad dirham among them and wants to return it, the exchange of the dinars breaks down, and he returns the silver and takes back his dinars. The explanation of what is disapproved of in that is that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Gold for silver is usury except hand to hand.' and Umar ibn al-Khattab said, 'If someone asks you to wait to be paid until he has gone back to his house, do not leave him.' When he returns a dirham to him from the exchange after he has left him, it is like a debt or something deferred. For that reason, it is disapproved of, and the exchange collapses. Umar ibn al-Khattab wanted that all gold, silver and food should not be sold for goods to be paid later. He did not want there to be any delay or deferment in any such sale, whether it involved one commodity or different sorts of commodities

حدثني يحيى، عن مالك، عن ابن شهاب، عن مالك بن اوس بن الحدثان النصري، انه التمس صرفا بماية دينار قال فدعاني طلحة بن عبيد الله فتراوضنا حتى اصطرف مني واخذ الذهب يقلبها في يده ثم قال حتى ياتيني خازني من الغابة . وعمر بن الخطاب يسمع . فقال عمر والله لا تفارقه حتى تاخذ منه - ثم قال - قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " الذهب بالورق ربا الا هاء وهاء والبر بالبر ربا الا هاء وهاء والتمر بالتمر ربا الا هاء وهاء والشعير بالشعير ربا الا هاء وهاء

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn Qusayt saw Said ibn al-Musayyab sell gold counterpoising for gold. He poured his gold into one pan of the scales, and the man with whom he was counterpoising put his gold in the other pan of the scale and when the tongue of the scales was balanced, they took and gave. Malik said, "According to the way things are done among us there is no harm in selling gold for gold, and silver for silver by counterpoising weight, even if 11 dinars are taken for 10 dinars hand to hand, when the weight of gold is equal, coin for coin, even if the number is different. Dirhams in such a situation are treated the same way as dinars." Malik said, "If, when counterpoising gold for gold or silver for silver, there is a difference of weight, one party should not give the other the value of the difference in silver or something else. Such a transaction is ugly and a means to usury because if one of the parties were permitted to take the difference for a separate price, it could be as if he had bought it separately, so he would be permitted. Then it would be possible for him to ask for many times the value of the difference in order to permit the completion of the transaction between the two parties. Malik said, "If he had really been sold the difference without anything else with it, he would not have taken it for a tenth of the price for which he took it in order to put a 'legal front' on the transaction. This leads to allowing what is forbidden . The matter is forbidden." Malik said that it was not good when counterpoising to give good old gold coins and put along with them unminted gold in exchange for worn kufic gold, which was unpopular and to then treat the exchange as like for like. Malik said, "The commentary on why that is disapproved is that the owner of the good gold uses the excellence of his old gold coins as an excuse to throw in the unminted gold with it. Had it not been for the superiority of his (good) gold over the gold of the other party, the other party would not have counterpoised the unminted gold for his kufic gold, and the deal would have been refused. "It is like a man wanting to buy three sa of ajwa dried dates for two sa and a mudd of kabis dates, and on being told that it was not good, then offering two sa of kabis and a sa of poor dates desiring to make the sale possible. That is not good because the owner of the ajwa should not give him a sa of ajwa for a sa of poor dates. He would only give him that because of the excellence of kabis dates. "Or it is like a man asking some one to sell him three sa of white wheat for two and a half sa of Syrian wheat, and being told that it was not good except like for like, and so offering two sa of wheat and one sa of barley intending to make the sale possible between them. That is not good because no one would have given a sa of barley for a sa of white wheat had that sa been by itself. It was only given because of the excellence of Syrian wheat over the white wheat. This is not good. It is the same as the case of the unminted gold." Malik said, "Where gold, silver and food, things which should only be sold like for like, are concerned, something disliked and of poor quality should not be put with something good and desirable in order to make the sale possible and to make a bad situation halal. When something of desirable quality is put with something of poor quality and it is only included so that its excellence in quality is noticed, something is being sold which if it had been sold on its own, would not have been accepted and to which the buyer would not have paid any attention. It is only accepted by the buyer because of the superiority of what comes with it over his own goods. Transactions involving gold, silver, or food, must not have anything of this description enter into them. If the owner of the poor quality goods wants to sell them, he sells them on their own, and does not put anything with them. There is no harm if it is like that

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Someone who buys food, must not resell it until he takes delivery of it all

حدثني يحيى، عن مالك، عن نافع، عن عبد الله بن عمر، ان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال " من ابتاع طعاما فلا يبعه حتى يستوفيه