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, t
hese 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.
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