Book of Selling and Commercial

Transactions

Introduction & Commercial

and Selling

مَنْ لاَ يَجُوْزُ دَفْعُ الزَّكَاةِ إِلَيْهِ

Chapters

The Book of Dhihar

Glossary

The Book of Selling and Commercial Transactions (Buyoo‘) 773

773. Selling is permissible by consensus. It is also important at the beginning of this section to point out the following:

. Islam encourages work, development and progress. The Messenger of Allah (SA) said:

“The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak one. Be keen to do what benefits you; rely on Allah and do not act as though you are powerless. When you have a problem, do not say: ‘If I had done such and such, the result would have been such and such’. Rather, you should say: ‘This was decreed by Allah, and Allah does what He wills.’ For saying ‘If’ opens the gate for Satan.” (M – from Abu Hurayrah).

الْمُؤْمِنُ الْقَوِيُّ خَيْرٌ وَأَحَبُّ إلي اللَّهِ من الْمُؤْمِنِ الضَّعِيفِ وفي كُلٍّ خَيْرٌ احْرِصْ على ما يَنْفَعُكَ وَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ ولا تَعْجِزْ وَإِنْ أَصَابَكَ شَيْءٌ فلا تَقُلْ لو أَنِّي فَعَلْتُ كان كَذَا وَكَذَا وَلَكِنْ قُلْ قَدَرُ اللَّهِ وما شَاءَ فَعَلَ فإن لو تَفْتَحُ عَمَلَ الشَّيْطَانِ.

. We were divinely mandated to uphold the good stewardship and development of Earth. While Islam recognizes the brokenness of the heart before God to be a virtue, it does not condemn prosperity and does not condone poverty (as in lack of money). The Messenger of Allah (SA) said to ‘Amr ibn al-‘Âṣ:

“Good money is very good for a good person.” (A, H; Ibn Ḥajar: S)

نِعِمَّا بِالْمَالِ الصَّالِحِ لِلرَّجُلِ الصَّالِحِ.

In this hadith, there is a reference to the two factors that determine whether or not money is a blessing for someone: how the person acquired it (good money) and how he or she spends it.

. Islam cautions that one must rely on Allah, for it is He Who decides who earns money and how much they will earn. A person who seeks money through haram (forbidden) means will not truly benefit from it by becoming content and feeling blessed. The Messenger of Allah (SA) said:

كِتَابُ الْبَيْعِ

Allah (ST) said: {…Allah has permitted trade…} (al-Baqarah 2: 275)

قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى: …}وأَحَلَّ اللهُ البَيْعَ.}..

Selling is the substitution of property for property. 774

وَالْبَيْعُ: مُعَاوَضَةُ الْمَالِ بِالْمَالِ.

It is lawful to sell anything owned that has a permissible benefit. The only exception is a dog; it is prohibited to sell one, and a person is not fined for causing its impairment or loss. This is because the

وَيَجُوْزُ بَيْعُ كُلِّ مَمْلُوْكٍ فِيْهِ نَفْعٌ مُبَاحٌ، إِلاَّ الْكَلْبَ فَإِنَّهُ لاَ يَجُوْزُ بَيْعُهُ وَلاَ يَجِبُ غُرُمُهُ عَلَى مُتْلِفِهِ، لأَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ نَهَى عَنْ ثَمَنِ الْكَلْبِ، وَقَالَ:”مَنِ

“The sanctified spirit (Jibreel – the archangel Gabriel) instilled in my breast that no soul shall die until it has earned all provisions meant for it. Fear Allah and seek provision in the most beautiful way. Do not let your feeling that provisions are coming slowly make you seek them through sinning, for it is only through obedience that you will obtain what is with Allah.” (Abu Nu‘aym in Ḥilyat al-Awliyâ’ – from Abu Umâmah; al-Albâni: S)

إنَّ رُوحَ القُدُسِ نَفَثَ في رُوعِي أنَّ نَفْسًا لا تَموت حتَّى تَستَكمِلَ رِزقَها، فاتَّقُوا الله وأجْمِلوا في الطَّلَبِ، ولا يَحمِلَنَّكُم استِبطاءُ الرِّزقِ أن تَطلبُوه بمعَاصِي الله، فإن الله لايُدرَكُ ما عِندَه إلا بِطاعَتِه.

. Finally, wealth is condemnable if it distracts the heart from seeking the pleasure of its Lord, or if it causes one to be arrogant and insolent.

"Charity is not permissible for us, and the freed slave of a people is one of them." (T – from Abu Râfi‘. T:S)

إنَّ الصَّدَقَةَ لَا تَحِلُّ لَنَا، وَإِنَّ مَوْلَى الْقَوْمِ مِنْهُم.

774. Any transaction of two items would involve:

1)   A priced commodity/usufruct (mathmoon) for a price/currency (thaman); that is sale proper (bay‘).

2)   A priced commodity/usufruct for a priced commodity/usufruct; that is called bartering (muqâyaḍah).

3) A currency for currency; that is called currency exchange (ṣarf). The rulings of ṣarf will be discussed in a separate chapter.

Prophet (SA) forbade charging a price for a dog. And he said, “If anyone keeps a dog 775 for other than guarding livestock or hunting, (the reward for) his or her deeds will diminish daily by two qeerâṭs.” , 776, 777

اقْتَنَى كَلْبًا، إِلَّا كَلْبَ مَاشِيَةٍ أَوْ صَيْدٍ، نَقَصَ مِنْ عَمَلِهِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ قِيرَاطان.

It is forbidden to sell: 778

وَلاَ يَجُوْزُ بَيْعُ:

775.

“The Prophet (SA) forbade the money paid for a dog, a payment to a prostitute, and a payment to a fortuneteller.” (Ag – from Abu Mas‘ood al-Anṣâri)

نَهَى عَنْ ثَمَنِ الْكَلْبِ وَمَهْرِ الْبَغِيِّ وَحُلْوَانِ الْكَاهِنِ.

(H): Allowed the sale of a dog that is permissible to use. They argued that the exception of selling dogs for permissible uses has been reported from some Companions. They also cited some reports traceable to the Prophet (SA), but those reports are controversial.

The Mâlikis disagree amongst themselves regarding the selling of dogs; some of them do not consider them najis (impure), and they allow their purchase.

(A) + (+S) forbid it.

The position of (S+A) is supported by the hadith. However, if one needs a dog for a permissible use, and cannot obtain one for free, one may buy it. The sin will be incurred by the sellers, who should have given away their extra dog(s).

776. qeerâṭ: a measure of weight, used sometimes to simply mean a large measure.

777. (M – from Ibn ‘Umar; B – from Abu Hurayrah, with slightly different wording.)

778. All the examples can be divided into three categories:

1) Sale impermissible because of the sale procedure: Many scholars consider any sale procedure to be likely sound as long as it does not involve ribâ (usury) gharar (undue risk taking), or ghabn (unfairness and cheating).

Introduction & Commercial and Selling

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