Abu Dawud

Benefits and Issues:
➊
Regarding the regulation that Islam has given about the mutual buying and selling of items of the same kind, nowadays this question is often asked: If one type, for example dates, is of a better quality, and the other is of inferior quality, then how can keeping both quantities equal be considered just? This is an important question. Islam wants to establish justice and fairness in every situation. That is why, in the buying and selling of those items which are a fundamental part of human food, special emphasis has been placed on justice.

➋
Every type of date or wheat, fundamentally, satisfies human hunger. If the exchange is intended merely for variety or difference in taste, then by all means, exchange them—both are equal in satisfying hunger. In exchange, keep the quantities equal; this is what justice demands.

➌
If someone thinks that in fulfilling nutritional needs, one type is better than the other—for example, that a relatively smaller quantity of one type satisfies hunger as much as a larger quantity of another type, or that the taste of one is so much better that a larger quantity of the other type should be given in exchange—then the common person does not possess any instrument or scale that can, in accordance with justice and fairness, accurately determine the quantities to be exchanged between two qualities. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) provided the solution that the price of the inferior quality should be determined through cash, and it should be sold for cash; similarly, the price of the superior quality should also be determined through cash, and it should be bought for cash. In this way, the demands of justice and fairness will be truly fulfilled. The difference in quality cannot be determined by weight or measure; it can be determined by price. For determining quality, price is the only impartial and most appropriate means.

➍
If the method of price is not adopted, and one tries to manage merely by increasing or decreasing the weight, then the right of one of the parties will be violated. If weight is made the standard for determining the difference in quality, then the requirements of mutual consent are also not fulfilled; therefore, such a sale cannot be permissible.

➎
In this regard, another question has been under discussion for quite some time: Is the condition of equality and hand-to-hand exchange limited only to the sale and purchase of these six items, or does it also apply to the sale of other similar items? The literalists (those who restrict themselves to the apparent meanings of the Qur’an or Hadith) limit this ruling only to the six items mentioned in the hadith. For other items, if an exchange of the same kind occurs with an increase or decrease, or on credit, they do not consider it riba al-fadl. However, all other schools of thought make an analogy (qiyas) to other items as well, and this is the correct viewpoint.

➏
In Pakistan and neighboring countries, just as wheat is the staple food item, in the Far East (Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, etc.), rice is the staple food. In the Arab world and surrounding countries, dates have the same status. In the northern parts of Pakistan, such as Baltistan, etc., apricots have that status, and in the Mediterranean regions, it is raisins. Therefore, these items should be analogized to wheat, barley, and dates.

➐
As for the fundamental reason for analogy (illah of qiyas), there is a difference among the various schools of thought. According to Imam Malik and Imam Shafi’i, for gold and silver (the two currencies), whose transactions depend on weight, no other thing can be analogized to them. However, analogy is necessary for the remaining four items.

➑
According to Imam Malik, those things which are a fundamental part of food and can be stored—if an exchange of the same kind is being made—should be analogized to the four food items mentioned in the hadith, and their transaction must be cash and equal. Imam Shafi’i analogizes all food grains absolutely to these four.

➒
According to the Hanafis, the fundamental reason for analogy in all six items mentioned in the hadith is that their transactions are conducted by measure or weight. In their view, every item that is sold by measure or weight will have the same ruling as that stated in the hadith regarding the six items.

➓
Imam Shawkani says that this is the opinion of all the scholars of Ahl al-Bayt, and Imam Abu Hanifa took his position from them. (Nayl al-Awtar, Kitab al-Buyu’, Bab Ma Yajri Fihi al-Riba)

⓫
Imam Malik’s school has the greatest breadth and ease, meaning that apart from gold, silver, or currency, those items should be analogized to the four items mentioned in the hadith which are a fundamental part of human food in any place. In the time of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), there were many items in Arabia whose transactions were conducted by measure and weight. He only mentioned these four items, which were the staple food of that society. But he did not include any other item with these four.

⓬
According to the hadith, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) explained the details of different types: if gold is sold for silver, or barley for wheat, etc., then an increase or decrease is permissible, but credit is not permissible.

⓭
Madi (with a damma on the meem and a sukoon on the dal) is a measure for grain used in the regions of Syria and Egypt, which contains 522 sa’ (a traditional measure).