Amr bin Dinar said: I heard Abu al-Minhal say: I heard from Iyas bin Abd al-Muzani (may Allah be pleased with him) that: I saw a man who was selling water, and I said: "Do not sell water, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to forbid the selling of water." Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The meaning of this hadith is that where Allah Almighty has made a spring of water flow, if that water is sold there, it is unlawful. An example of this is that a man brings his animals to that spring and the owner of the spring gives him that water for money, although that water is surplus to his own need. the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade this. However, if he carries the water on his back, there is no harm, because he is taking the reward for his labour.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب البيوع / 11057
Hadith Gradingمحدثین:مسند عبدالرزاق، رقم 14495، مسند حميدي، رقم 836
Hadith Takhrij«مسند عبدالرزاق، رقم 14495، مسند حميدي، رقم 836»
Amr bin Dinar (may Allah have mercy on him) said that selling surplus water has been forbidden. Abu al-Minhal (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Iyas bin Abd (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the people: "Do not sell water that is surplus to need, for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب البيوع / 11058
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade selling water, forbade the fee for a camel's stud service, and likewise forbade a man to sell his land and his water." The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: In the hadith he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "and that a man should sell his land and his water." From this it is understood that a man rents out land together with the water, on condition that he will be given part of the yield; and Allah knows best. This same narration was reported by Rawh bin Ubadah from Ibn Jurayj, and he said in the hadith: "the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade selling water and land for cultivation."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب البيوع / 11060
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Surplus water is not to be sold in order that the pasture may thereby be sold."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب البيوع / 11061
Salim, the freed slave of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), said: People offered me thirty thousand for the surplus water of his land at al-Waht. So I wrote about this to Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), and he wrote back to me: Do not sell it; rather, set up your turns of watering, then give water to those nearest to you, and then the next nearest, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbidding the sale of surplus water.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب البيوع / 11062
Ibn Jurayj (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Ata (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: What about selling water in water-skins? He replied that this case is different; here a man draws the water and carries it, so there is no harm in it. This water is not like the surplus water that simply dries up in the ground.
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب البيوع / 11063