Forum Comments:

On Hadiths about Exchange of Dates


Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
Associate Professor of Economics and Finance
Upper Iowa University 

IBF-Net; 12/16/06; Message #5854; Reply to: #5840

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Salam and greetings.
 
Br. Robbani referred (as usual, without any reference) to the hadiths about exchange of dates in his correspondence with Dr. Mohammed Fadel. Let me first quote those hadiths first.

From Abu Sa'id and Abu Hurayrah: A man employed by the Prophet, peace be on him, in Khaybar brought for him janib [dates of very fine quality]. Upon the Prophet's asking him whether all the dates of Khaybar were such, the man replied that this was not the case and added that "they exchanged a sa [a measure] of this kind for two or three [of the other kind]". The Prophet, peace be on him, replied, "Do not do so. Sell [the lower quality dates] for dirhams and then use the dirhams to buy janib. [When dates are exchanged against dates] they should be equal in weight." [Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Buyu, Bab idha arada bay'a tamrin bi tamrin khayrun minhu, Volume 3, Book 38, Number 499; also Muslim; Muwatta, #31.12.20 and Nasa'i).
 
From Abu Sa'id: Bilal brought to the Prophet, peace be on him, some barni [good quality] dates whereupon the Prophet asked him where these were from. Bilal replied, "I had some inferior dates which I exchanged for these - two sas for a sa." The Prophet said, "Oh no, this is exactly riba. Do not do so, but when you wish to buy, sell the inferior dates against something [cash] and then buy the better dates with the price you receive." [Muslim, Kitab al-Musaqat, Bab al-ta'ami mithlan bi mithlin, #3871; also Musnad Ahmad].

First, notice the discrepancy between two hadiths about the same incident. In the first one (and there are many other ones like it where) there is no reference to riba at all, while the second one specifically makes a connection to riba. Also, the wording is quite different. In the first one, it says: "Do not do so. Sell [the lower quality dates] for dirhams and then use the dirhams to buy janib. [When dates are exchanged against dates] they should be equal in weight." In the second one, it says: "when you wish to buy, sell the inferior dates against something [cash] and then buy the better dates with the price you receive." 

Obviously, even though the narrators are apparently quoting the Prophet, they are actually narrating an incident in their own words. There are other reports of the same incident that don't make any connection with riba at all. Indeed, these hadiths are not about any prohibition. I have already explained it in an essay posted earlier on this forum "Riba and Six Hadiths: Do we have a definition or a conundrum?". No definitive conclusion, especially from legal viewpoint, can be derived from these hadiths in question. Dr. Fadel has aptly identified it as "prudential regulation." Indeed, one can better understand these hadiths as affirmation of common economic wisdom. In his book What is Riba? [India: Pharos Media, 1999], Allamah Iqbal Ahmad Khan Suhail refers to Shah Waliullah Muhaddith Dihlawi's explanation that lends credence to the position that this order "... was neither legislative nor had anything to do with riba." [p. 55]

In a barter between low-quality dates and better-quality dates, there is a risk that the person seeking this barter may be at a disadvantage and not fetch the true or fair market value of the low-quality dates. Indeed, it is not uncommon that even in purchases of car, the buyers are recommended that if they have some tradeable used vehicle, it is better to have it sold separately than trade it in. As a major financial site explains: "Selling your old car takes more time and know-how, but you can potentially get more money than when trading it in." [Bankrate.com]
 
First thing to note is that there is no guarantee that either trading or selling would necessarily fetch a higher value; it's only "potential." That's why the seller/trader should be knowledgeable and have done the homework to assess the proper market value. It's only prudent.
 
However, now let's take the case of this issue of car - trade or sell and impose a restriction/prohibition that no trade would be permissible. The only option to the owner of the vehicle is that he must sell the old vehicle separately. In such case, one needs to consider the reality of costs related to advertising, time to show the vehicle, depreciation during the time the vehicle is further held, etc. Of course, there is a more compelling factor that there has to be a potential buyer at the price the seller reasonably wants. Barring all these, with a prohibition or restriction about trading, the seller may be stuck. What if the seller needs the next/newer vehicle urgently?
 
Let's now try to understand the exchange of dates. We all know that one of the fundamental problems with barter is that there has to be Double Coincidence of Wants. If I have low-quality dates and I MUST sell it first, I must find a buyer (who is not necessarily interested in selling anything). What if I don't find a buyer (and, especially at a reasonable or fair price) before my fresh low-quality date is not fresh any more? If trading/barter in this context is prohibited, it indeed can become an unwarranted and unjustified difficulty/hardship (haraj, as argued by Dr. Fadel). However, as a "prudential" guidance of wisdom, the Prophetic statement makes perfect sense.
 
As a footnote, I must acknowledge in advance a potential argument that these hadiths pertain to date (or a specified number of commodities, especially the six that are identified in hadith). However, as we all know that when we consider the difference of opinion about whether the hadith pertains to only six commodities or more, and if more, what other commodities are covered, the whole discourse (about which commodities) falls apart, because of the unacceptably wide range of disagreement in this regard. 
 
Indeed, these matters should not be approached from a legalistic angle, verged on literalism, without taking into consideration the maqasid, the intent of the prohibition, or in this case, prudential guidance. Indeed, such literalist and legalistic interpretation often trivializes, as in this case, the otherwise perfectly wise and valuable guidance from the Prophet.
 
Of course, Allah knows best.
 
===================================
Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq
http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm


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