Muslim

Hadith Footnote: Vocabulary of the Hadith:
Alwan is the plural of lawn, which refers to types and categories.

(1) The purpose of Imam Nasa’i rahimahullah is that the transaction of dates for dates is permissible provided that it is hand to hand (immediate exchange) and equal on both sides.

(2) From this blessed hadith, it is also understood that the sale of the items mentioned in the hadith in exchange for one another is permissible, on the condition that the items are of equal quantity, the transaction is immediate (cash), and both parties take possession of their respective items in the same sitting.

(3) In taking interest (riba), not only the one who receives it is sinful, but the one who gives it is also culpable. Therefore, both the receiver and the giver of interest should avoid it.

(4) This blessed hadith also establishes that if the type (genus) changes, then disparity (in quantity) is permissible. Imam Nawawi rahimahullah states that even in the case of different types (genera), mutual possession (taqabud: both parties taking possession) is necessary and obligatory. There is consensus among almost all scholars on this.

(5) “If the types change,” for example: a transaction of dates for wheat, wheat for barley, barley for salt. In such cases, disparity (in quantity) is permissible; for example, if someone gives two kilos of wheat and takes half a kilo of dates, there is no harm. However, the transaction must be immediate (hand to hand).

Hadith Authentication: [وأخرجه مسلم 588/85، من حديث ما لك به]
Jurisprudential Explanation:
➊ A goldsmith once asked Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Umar radi Allahu anhuma: I mold gold (into jewelry), then I sell it for a price higher than its weight, and this extra amount (increase) I take in exchange for my labor. He forbade this goldsmith. The goldsmith kept asking repeatedly, and he continued to forbid him, until he reached the door of the mosque to mount his ride. Then Sayyiduna Ibn Umar radi Allahu anhuma said: (Exchange) dinar for dinar and dirham for dirham, with no increase in it; this is the covenant and statement of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to us, and this is our covenant and statement to you. [الموطا 633/2 ح 1362، وسنده صحيح]
● Also see [الموطأ حديث : 153]
➋ Sayyiduna Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan radi Allahu anhu once sold a gold and silver vessel for a price higher than its weight. Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda radi Allahu anhu said to him: I heard the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam forbidding this, except if it is equal for equal. Muawiyah radi Allahu anhu said: In my opinion, there is no harm in it. So Abu al-Darda radi Allahu anhu said: Who will excuse me regarding Muawiyah? I narrate to him the hadith of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and he tells me his own opinion. I will not remain in the land in which (O Muawiyah!) you reside. Then Abu al-Darda radi Allahu anhu came (to Madinah) to Umar ibn al-Khattab radi Allahu anhu and related this incident. So he wrote to Muawiyah radi Allahu anhu: Do not engage in such buying and selling again, except equal for equal. [الموطا 634/2 ح 1364، وسنده صحيحي،]
● Many other such reports are present in the Muwatta of Imam Malik, from which the prohibition of such transactions is established.
➌ There are many types of usury (riba), in which many people are entangled.
➍ Also see [الموطأ ح 259، البخاري 2177، و مسلم 1584]