(63) باب مَا جَاءَ فِي الْعَرَايَا وَالرُّخْصَةِ فِي ذَلِكَ
Narrated Ibn 'Umar:
From Zaid bin Thabit that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) permitted selling in Al-'Araya by estimating it.[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih. The Hadith of Abu Hurairah is Hasan Sahih. And this is acted upon according to some of the people of knowledge. Among them Ash-Shafi'i, Ahmad and Ishaq. They said Al-'Araya is an exception from the general scope of the prohibition of the Prophet (ﷺ) when he prohibited Al-Muhaqalah and Al-Muzabanah. They argued using this Hadith of Zaid bin Thabit and the Hadith of Abu Hurairah. They said that he may buy what is less than five Wasq.According to some of the people of knowledge, this means that the Prophet (ﷺ) wanted to make less restriction for them on this matter because they complained to him saying: "We dont by anything with dried dates except fruit." So he permitted them to buy less than five Wasq worth so they could eat fresh dates.
Reference: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1302
In-book reference: Book 14, Hadith 105
English translation: Vol. 1, Book 12, Hadith 1302