Bukhari

Hadith Commentary:
The incident is that during the era of Umar (radi Allahu anhu), an official collected a tax from a dhimmi (non-Muslim under Muslim protection) who was a wine seller and was transporting wine.
When Umar (radi Allahu anhu) was informed of this incident, he became displeased.
And for the purpose of reprimand and admonition, he narrated this hadith to him.
It is thus understood that every kind of business related to wine is absolutely forbidden (haram) for a Muslim, and it is also understood that devising any trick or legal stratagem (hiyal) to make explicitly prohibited things lawful is an act of the Jews. May Allah protect every Muslim from this.
May it be that the honorable individuals who study the Book of Legal Stratagems (Kitab al-Hiyal) also reflect upon this.

Hadith Commentary:
It is explicitly stated in Sahih Muslim that Hazrat Samurah bin Jundub (radi Allahu anhu) sold wine.
(Sahih Muslim, Al-Musaqat, Hadith: 4050(1582))
Concerning him, Hazrat Umar (radi Allahu anhu) issued the aforementioned statement, even though the prohibition of wine was well-known and established.
There are three explanations regarding this:

➊ He took wine from the People of the Book in exchange for the price of the jizyah imposed upon them, and then sold it back to them. According to his understanding, doing so was permissible.

➋ He sold grape juice (shirah) from which wine is made. Sometimes, grape juice is metaphorically referred to as wine.

➌ He turned the wine into vinegar, then sold it, but according to Hazrat Umar (radi Allahu anhu), doing so was not permissible.

There is also another possibility: that Hazrat Samurah (radi Allahu anhu) was aware of the prohibition of wine itself, but was not aware of the ruling regarding its buying and selling. For if he had known and deliberately acted in this way, Hazrat Umar (radi Allahu anhu) would not have sufficed with mere reprimand, but would have immediately removed him from his position.

In any case, Hazrat Umar (radi Allahu anhu) did not consider this action to be good and said:
Such trickery was practiced by the Jews.
When Allah, the Exalted, made fat (charchobi) unlawful for them, they began to melt it and sell it.
(Fath al-Bari: 4/523)

Hadith Commentary:
By "so-and-so" is meant Samurah ibn Jundub, who accepted wine as jizyah from the disbelievers and, after selling it, sent its proceeds to the public treasury (bayt al-mal). Samurah exercised his own ijtihad (independent juristic reasoning) in this matter, considering that there was no objection in it. He had not heard this hadith; therefore, Umar (radi Allahu anhu) did not impose any punishment on him.
(Wahidi)

Hadith Commentary:
➊
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has detailed this hadith in the Book of Transactions (Kitab al-Buyu‘), where it is mentioned that it reached Umar radi Allahu anhu that a certain man had sold wine.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Buyu‘, Hadith 2223)
In reality, Samurah ibn Jundub radi Allahu anhu had taken wine from the disbelievers as jizyah (tribute) and sold it, depositing its price into the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal).
Upon this, Umar radi Allahu anhu admonished that this is the practice of the Jews: they would consume the price of things Allah had forbidden, whereas the buying and selling of anything Allah has prohibited is also forbidden.
Since Samurah ibn Jundub radi Allahu anhu had exercised his own ijtihad (independent reasoning) and was unaware of this hadith, Umar radi Allahu anhu did not further question him.

➋
In any case, this hadith exposes one of the behaviors of the Jews: that fat (charchobi) was forbidden for them, but they melted it and began to sell it, which was a clear violation of Allah’s command.
And Allah knows best.

Hadith Commentary:

Benefits and Issues:
Umar radi Allahu anhu used the phrase (qatala Allah) regarding Samurah radi Allahu anhu. This is merely to add emphasis and forcefulness in speech; its literal meaning or supplication (of curse) is not intended. Just as the Arabs say: "taribat yadak" (may your hands be dusted), "raghima anfuk" (may your nose be rubbed in dust), "wayhak" (woe to you), "waylak" (woe to you), "uqri halqi" (may my throat be parched), etc. Clearly, their literal meaning or supplication is not intended.

And Ata’ has mentioned four reasons regarding Samurah’s selling of wine:

➊ He had received this wine from the People of the Book as jizyah (tax), and sold it back to them, because he believed that since they buy and sell it among themselves, it is permissible to take it from them and sell it back to them.

➋ He sold grape juice (shirah) to those who make wine, and selling grape juice is permissible (he may not have known that they would make wine from it).

➌ He sold wine after converting it into vinegar, and he considered it permissible to sell it after making it vinegar, whereas Umar radi Allahu anhu did not consider it permissible. According to the Hanafis as well, it is permissible to sell it after making it vinegar, which is an impermissible legal stratagem (hiylah). If wine turns into vinegar by itself, then it is permissible, but intentionally making it into vinegar is not correct.

➍ He was unaware of the prohibition of selling wine.

(1) It is not permissible to benefit from things that Allah, the Exalted, has prohibited.

(2) This hadith also clearly indicates the invalidity of unlawful legal stratagems (hiyal), and that things prohibited by the Shari‘ah cannot be made lawful by any trick, pretext, or by taking cover behind anything. Those who commit such reprehensible acts may be deemed deserving of curse.

(3) From this blessed hadith, it is understood that the buying and selling of alcohol is unlawful (haram) and prohibited, and it is also understood that when something is intrinsically haram, its price is also haram.

(4) This blessed hadith also indicates the prohibition of trading in cigarettes, tobacco, bidis, naswar, and other intoxicants and stupefying substances. And Allah knows best.

Benefits and Issues:

➊
There are narrations from two Companions named Samurah in the Sihah Sittah.
The Companion mentioned in this hadith is Samurah ibn Jundub radi Allahu anhu.
He is not Samurah ibn Junadah radi Allahu anhu. (Fath al-Bari: 4/523, referencing al-Bayhaqi)

➋
Why did Samurah radi Allahu anhu sell wine? Various explanations have been mentioned for this.
For example, it is possible that he converted it into vinegar and then sold it,
and his view was that making vinegar from wine is permissible.
Whereas Umar radi Allahu anhu did not consider this permissible.
It is also possible that Samurah radi Allahu anhu knew that wine is forbidden, but did not know that selling it is also forbidden.

➌
The question also arises as to why he acquired wine in the first place. Hafiz Ibn Hajar rahimahullah has mentioned the statements of scholars regarding this.
It is possible that he received it as part of jizyah or as war booty. (Fath al-Bari, reference above)

➍
In the Arabic language, the fat obtained from meat is called shaham.
And melted fat is called wadak.
However, changing the name does not change the legal ruling.

➎
The Jews employed this trick: shaham is forbidden for us, but we are selling wadak,
which is a different thing.

➏
It is forbidden to buy or sell anything that has no lawful use.

➐
A forbidden thing does not become lawful through trickery; rather, the sin becomes even more severe.

Benefit:
In this hadith, the reference to Samurah is to the Companion of the Messenger, Samurah ibn Jundub radi Allahu anhu, not Samurah ibn Junadah. [فتح الباري، احـكـام الاحكام لابن دقيق: 293/2]
Various answers have been given as to why Sayyiduna Samurah radi Allahu anhu sold wine. The most apparent answer seems to be that he sold wine in the form of vinegar, and he thought that making vinegar from wine and then selling it was permissible. When Sayyiduna Umar radi Allahu anhu came to know of this, he rebuked him and narrated this hadith. For details, see Fath al-Bari (5/700, 702). And Allah knows best what is correct.

It is also established from this that the noble Companions radi Allahu anhum ajma‘in would, when necessary, use analogy (qiyas). In this hadith, Sayyiduna Umar radi Allahu anhu made an analogy between the prohibition of wine and the prohibition of fat. [احكام الاحكام: 293/2]

It is also understood from this that the price of something whose consumption is forbidden is also forbidden. When a thing has two or more names, changing its name does not change its reality. The fat obtained from meat is called «شـحـم» and the melted fat is called «دك»; in reality, both «شـحـم» and «ودك» are the same.

In the religion of Islam, following and obeying (the Shari‘ah) has been commanded. Regret is for those who abandon following and resort to various legal stratagems (hiyal). They should know that legal stratagems are the practice of the Jews.

Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim al-Dimashqi rahimahullah has thoroughly exposed the legal stratagems of some people in “I‘lam al-Muwaqqi‘in.”