Hadith 32519

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the same as thatfrom al-Qasim ibn Muhammad from Ibn Muayqib ad-Dawsi.Maliksaid, "This is the way of doing things among us . "Maliksaid, "The generally agreed on way of doing things among us is thatwheat is not sold for wheat, dates for dates, wheat for dates, datesfor raisins, wheat for raisins, nor any kind of food sold for food atall, except from hand to hand. If there is any sort of delayed termsin the transaction, it is not good. It is haram. Condiments are notbartered except from hand to hand."Malik said, "Food andcondiments are not bartered when they are the same type, two of onekind for one of the other. A mudd of wheat is not sold for two muddsof wheat, nor a mudd of dates for two mudds of dates, nor a mudd ofraisins for two mudds of raisins, nor is anything of that sort donewith grains and condiments when they are of one kind, even if it ishand to hand."This is the same position as silver for silverand gold for gold. No increase is halal in the transaction, and onlylike for like, from hand to hand is halal."Malik said, "Ifthere is a clear difference in foodstuffs which are measured andweighed, there is no harm in taking two of one kind for one ofanother, hand to hand. There is no harm in taking a sa of dates fortwo sa of wheat, and a sa of dates for two sa of raisins, and a sa ofwheat for two sa of ghee. If the two sorts in the transaction aredifferent, there is no harm in two for one or more than that from handto hand. If delayed terms enter into the sale, it is not halal ."Malik said, "It is not halal to trade a heap of wheat for a heapof wheat. There is no harm in a heap of wheat for a heap of dates,from hand to hand. That is because there is no harm in buying wheatwith dates without precise measurement."Malik said, "Withkinds of foods and condiments that differ from each other, and thedifference is clear, there is no harm in bartering one kind foranother, without precise measurement from hand to hand. If delayedterms enter into the sale, there is no good in it. Bartering suchthings without precise measurement is like buying it with gold andsilver without measuring precisely."Malik said, "That isbecause you buy wheat with silver without measuring precisely, anddates with gold without measuring precisely, and it is halal. There isno harm in it."Malik said, "It is not good for someone tomake a heap of food, knowing its measure and then to sell it as if ithad not been measured precisely, concealing its measure from thebuyer. If the buyer wants to return that food to the seller, he can,because he concealed its measure and so it is an uncertaintransaction. This is done with any kind of food or other goods whosemeasure and number the seller knows, and which he then sells withoutmeasurement and the buyer does not know that. If the buyer wants toreturn that to the seller, he can return t. The people of knowledgestill forbid such a transaction."Malik said, "There is nogood in selling one round loaf of bread for two round loaves, norlarge for small when some of them are bigger than others. When care istaken that they are like for like, there is no harm in the sale, evenif they are not weighed."Malik said, "It is not good to sella mudd of butter and a mudd of milk for two mudds of butter. This islike what we described of selling dates when two sa of kabis and a saof poor quality dates were sold for three sa of ajwa dates after thebuyer had said to the seller, 'Two sa of kabis dates for three sa ofajwa dates is not good,' and then he did that to make the transactionpossible. The owner of the milk puts the milk with his butter so thathe can use the superiority of his butter over the butter of the otherparty to put his milk in with it."Malik said, "Flour forwheat is like for like, and there is no harm in that. That is if hedoes not mix up anything with the flour and sell it for wheat, likefor like. Had he put half a mudd of flour and half of wheat, and thensold that for a mudd of wheat, it would be like what we described, andit would not be good because he would want to use the superiority ofhis good wheat to put flour along with it. Such a transaction is notgood."