Riba al-Fadl (Hadith No. 1900)

Bismillah.

Hadith no. 1899 (below) is a repeat. Read it here.

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 404 :
Narrated by ‘Aisha (radiallaahu `anhaa)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) bought some foodstuff from a Jew on credit and mortgaged his armor to him.

Today’s Hadith:

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 405 :
Narrated by Abu Said Al-Khudri and Abu Huraira (radiallaahu `anhumaa)
Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) appointed somebody as a governor of Khaibar. That governor brought to him an excellent kind of dates (from Khaibar). The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) asked, “Are all the dates of Khaibar like this?” He replied, “By Allah, no, O Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam)! But we barter one Sa of this (type of dates) for two Sas of dates of ours and two Sas of it for three of ours.” Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said, “Do not do so (as that is a kind of usury) but sell the mixed dates (of inferior quality) for money, and then buy good dates with that money.”

Riba al-Fadl: The riba of exchange surplus. Any commodity-for-commodity exchange transaction (i. e. barter) in which the exchanged commodities are of the same type but of unequal measure, or the delivery of one commodity is postponed.

We’ve already learnt about it in Exchanging Goods, now we know the term for it.

Go through this link for a detailed description and analysis of Riba al-Fadl.

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A Kind of Riba [Interest] (Ahadith 1836 – 1842)

Bismillah.

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 341 :
Narrated by Salim
That his father said. “I saw those, who used to buy foodstuff without measuring or weighing in the life time of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) being punished if they sold it before carrying it to their own houses.”

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 342 :
Narrated by Tawus
Ibn ‘Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu) said, “Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) forbade the selling of foodstuff before its measuring and transferring into one’s possession.” I asked Ibn ‘Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu), “How is that?” Ibn ‘Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu) replied, “It will be just like selling money for money, as the foodstuff has not been handed over to the first purchaser who is the present seller.”

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 343 :
Narrated by Ibn Umar (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said, “He who buys foodstuff should not sell it till he has received it.”

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 344 :
Narrated by Az-Zuhri from Malik bin Aus
That the latter said, “Who has change?” Talha said, “I (will have change) when our store-keeper comes from the forest.” Narrated ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab (radiallaahu `anhu): Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said, “The bartering of gold for silver is Riba, (usury), except if it is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and wheat grain for wheat grain is usury except if it is form hand to hand and equal in amount, and dates for dates is usury except if it is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and barley for barley is usury except if it is from hand to hand and equal in amount.“

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 345 :
Narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) forbade the selling of foodstuff before receiving it. I consider that all types of sellings should be done similarly.

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 346 :
Narrated by Ibn ‘Umar (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said, “The buyer of foodstuff should not sell it before it has been measured for him.” Isma’il narrated instead, “He should not sell it before receiving it.”

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 347 :
Narrated by Ibn ‘Umar (radiallaahu `anhu)
I saw the people buy foodstuff randomly (i.e. blindly without measuring it) in the life-time of Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) and they were punished (by beating), if they tried to sell it before carrying it to their own houses.

We previously studied that reselling something before taking its possession is not allowed, because it’s like exchanging money for money –> interest.
Now we also know that it’s necessary to measure before selling the merchandise/foodstuff. It’s only fair. You must price it accordingly and the buyer will judge its worth once he has complete info.

The Forbidden Four (Hadith No. 1794)

Bismillah.

Hadith no. 1793 (below) is a repeat. Read it here.

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 298:

Narrated Samura bin Jundab (radiallaahu `anhu):

The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said, “This night I dreamt that two men came and took me to a Holy land whence we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood, where a man was standing, and on its bank was standing another man with stones in his hands. The man in the middle of the river tried to come out, but the other threw a stone in his mouth and forced him to go back to his original place. So, whenever he tried to come out, the other man would throw a stone in his mouth and force him to go back to his former place. I asked, ‘Who is this?’ I was told, ‘The person in the river was a Riba-eater.”

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The Forbidden Four

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 299:

Narrated ‘Aun bin Abu Juhaifa:

My father bought a slave who practiced the profession of cupping. (My father broke the slave’s instruments of cupping). I asked my father why he had done so. He replied, “The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) forbade the acceptance of the price of a dog or blood, and also forbade the profession of tattooing, getting tattooed and receiving or giving Riba, (usury), and cursed the picture-makers.”

• A detailed study on the ahadith about cupping show that doing it and charging money for it is not exactly haraam.
• The prohibition on the price of a dog and the fact that it is among the most evil of earnings and is something vile indicates that it is haraam to sell dogs; the transaction is not valid and the price is not halaal and the one who destroys it is not obliged to repay its value, regardless of whether the dog is trained or not, or whether it is one that it is permissible to keep or not. This is the view of the majority of scholars.
• Tattooing, in which the skin is pierced with a needle and a blue or other coloured dye is injected, is haraam in all forms, whether it causes pain or not, because it involves changing the creation of Allaah, and because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the one who does tattoos and the one for whom that is done.
• Riba (which means adding something extra to certain products, like selling gold for gold, or by not receiving something when a contract is signed, or paying extra in return for extension of a loan) is haraam because Allaah – who rules as He wills – has forbidden it.
• It is well established from clear, saheeh mutawaatir ahaadeeth that image-making is not allowed, and that the one who does this is cursed and is warned of torment in Hell, as in the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas which is attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Every image maker will be in Hell, and a soul will be given to every image which he made so that it might torment him in Hell.” (Narrated by Muslim).

Exchanging Goods: The Golden Rule (Hadith No. 1789)

Bismillah.

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 294:

Narrated Abu Said (radiallaahu `anhu):

We used to be given mixed dates (from the booty) and used to sell (barter) two Sas of those dates) for one Sa (of good dates). The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said (to us), “No (bartering of) two Sas for one Sa nor two Dirhams for one Dirham is permissible”, (as that is a kind of usury).

Bilaal (may Allaah be pleased with him) brought some good dates to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he said to him: “Where did these come from?” Bilaal said: “We had some bad dates and I paid two saa’s of them for a saa’ so that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) might have some of it.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Oh! Do not do that, (it is) the essence of riba, the essence of riba.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3212.

The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stated that giving more when equal amounts should be exchanged because of the difference in quality is the essence of riba, and it is not permissible to do that. But the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as was his wont, pointed out the permissible way. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told him to sell the bad dates for money (dirhams) and then buy the good dates with the money.

Money Exchange (Hadith No. 1771)

Bismillah.

Volume 3, Book 34, Number 276:

Narrated Abu Al-Minhal:

I used to practice money exchange, and I asked Zaid bin ‘Arqam about it, and he narrated what the Prophet said in the following: Abu Al-Minhal said, “I asked Al-Bara’ bin ‘Azib and Zaid bin Arqam (radiallaahu `anhumaa) about practicing money exchange. They replied, ‘We were traders in the time of Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) and I asked Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) about money exchange. He replied, ‘If it is from hand to hand, there is no harm in it; otherwise it is not permissible.”

Dealing in currencies is permissible so long as the exchange takes place in the same sitting as the contract is made. It is permissible to sell euros for dollars so long as the exchange takes place in the same sitting as the contract is made. But when the deal is concerning the same type of currency, such as selling one dollar for two dollars, that is not permissible because it is a type of riba.  In that case they should be of equal amounts and the exchange must take place in the same sitting as the contract if the exchange is concerning one type of currency. The evidence for that is the report narrated by ‘Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat, barley for barley, dates for dates, salt for salt, like for like, same for same, hand to hand. If the types are different then sell however you like, so long as it is hand to hand.” Narrated by Muslim, 1587.

It says in Majmoo’ Fataawa Ibn Baaz (19/171-174):

Dealing in currency, buying and selling, is permissible, but that is subject to the condition that the exchange be hand-to-hand if the currencies are different. If a person sells Libyan currency for American or Egyptian or whatever currency hand to hand, there is nothing wrong with that, such as if he buys dollars for Libyan currency hand to hand, exchanging it in one sitting, or he buys Egyptian or English currency etc for the Libyan or whatever currency hand to hand, there is nothing wrong with that. But if there is a delay, then it is not permissible, and if the exchange is not done in the same sitting, it is not permissible, because in that case it is regarded as a kind of riba-based transaction. So the exchange must take place in the same sitting, hand to hand, if the currencies are different. But if they are of the same kind, two conditions must be met: they should be of equal amounts and the exchange should take place in the same sitting, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Gold for gold, silver for silver…”

The ruling on currency is as mentioned above; if they are different then it is permissible for the amounts exchanged to be different, so long as the exchange takes place in the same sitting. If they are of the same kind, such as dollars for dollars, or dinars for dinars, then the exchange must take place in the same sitting and they should be of the same amount. And Allaah is the source of strength. End quote from IslamQA.

More on it here.