Charging Higher on Credit, Differentiating Between Rich and Poor, and the Shar‘i Ruling on Commission (Ārhat)
Source: Aḥkām wa Masā’il, Issues of Buying and Selling, Vol. 1, p. 370
A doctor/herbalist sells medicine to the rich for 20 rupees but gives the same medicine or prescription to the poor for 10 rupees. Is this practice permissible?
Answer:
Yes, this practice is absolutely permissible. It is allowed for a person to take the full price from the wealthy and charge the poor less, or even give them the item free of cost. Sharī‘ah permits this, and it is an act of kindness, benevolence, and virtue.
The cash price of honey is 100 rupees, but a friend sells the same honey on credit for 150 rupees. What is the ruling on this? He argues that the Prophet ﷺ promised to give more camels when buying on credit.
Answer:
This transaction is actually a form of ribā (interest) and is impermissible in Sharī‘ah.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
«مَنْ بَاعَ بَيْعَتَيْنِ فِیْ بَيْعَةٍ فَلَهُ أَوْکَسُهُمَا أَوِ الرِّبَا»
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Buyū‘, Bāb fī man bā‘a bay‘atayn fī bay‘ah)
Translation:
“Whoever conducts two sales in one transaction, he will get only the lesser of the two prices, otherwise he will fall into ribā.”
As for the evidence cited that the Prophet ﷺ promised to give more camels on credit, it is not authentic.
«فَکَانَ يَأْخُذُ الْبَعِيْرَ بِالْبَعِيْرَيْنِ إِلَی إِبِلِ الصَّدَقَةِ»
Shaykh al-Albānī (رحمه الله) authenticated this in Mishkāt saying:
«وَإِسْنَادُهُ ضَعِيْفٌ» — “Its chain is weak.”
«عَنْ جَابِرٍ أَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اﷲِ ﷺ قَالَ : لاَ بَأْسَ بِالْحَيَوانِ وَاحِدًا بِاثْنَيْنِ يَدًا بِيَدٍ وَکَرِهَهُ نَسِيْئَةً»
Translation:
“It is not wrong to sell one animal for two animals on cash, but the Prophet ﷺ disliked it when done on credit.”
Hence, increasing the price due to credit is a form of ribā and is impermissible.
In our area, commission agents (āṛhatīs) take a commission fee and also keep the produce scattered on the ground. Is this practice permissible?
Answer:
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Aḥkām wa Masā’il, Issues of Buying and Selling, Vol. 1, p. 370
❖ Question 1:
A doctor/herbalist sells medicine to the rich for 20 rupees but gives the same medicine or prescription to the poor for 10 rupees. Is this practice permissible?
Answer:
Yes, this practice is absolutely permissible. It is allowed for a person to take the full price from the wealthy and charge the poor less, or even give them the item free of cost. Sharī‘ah permits this, and it is an act of kindness, benevolence, and virtue.
❖ Question 2:
The cash price of honey is 100 rupees, but a friend sells the same honey on credit for 150 rupees. What is the ruling on this? He argues that the Prophet ﷺ promised to give more camels when buying on credit.
Answer:
This transaction is actually a form of ribā (interest) and is impermissible in Sharī‘ah.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
«مَنْ بَاعَ بَيْعَتَيْنِ فِیْ بَيْعَةٍ فَلَهُ أَوْکَسُهُمَا أَوِ الرِّبَا»
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Kitāb al-Buyū‘, Bāb fī man bā‘a bay‘atayn fī bay‘ah)
Translation:
“Whoever conducts two sales in one transaction, he will get only the lesser of the two prices, otherwise he will fall into ribā.”
As for the evidence cited that the Prophet ﷺ promised to give more camels on credit, it is not authentic.
- In the narration of ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Āṣ (رضي الله عنهما) reported in Abū Dāwūd:
«فَکَانَ يَأْخُذُ الْبَعِيْرَ بِالْبَعِيْرَيْنِ إِلَی إِبِلِ الصَّدَقَةِ»
Shaykh al-Albānī (رحمه الله) authenticated this in Mishkāt saying:
«وَإِسْنَادُهُ ضَعِيْفٌ» — “Its chain is weak.”
- While in Ibn Mājah, an authentic narration states:
«عَنْ جَابِرٍ أَنَّ رَسُوْلَ اﷲِ ﷺ قَالَ : لاَ بَأْسَ بِالْحَيَوانِ وَاحِدًا بِاثْنَيْنِ يَدًا بِيَدٍ وَکَرِهَهُ نَسِيْئَةً»
Translation:
“It is not wrong to sell one animal for two animals on cash, but the Prophet ﷺ disliked it when done on credit.”
Hence, increasing the price due to credit is a form of ribā and is impermissible.
❖ Question 3:
In our area, commission agents (āṛhatīs) take a commission fee and also keep the produce scattered on the ground. Is this practice permissible?
Answer:
- If this practice amounts to ribā or akl māl bil-bāṭil (wrongfully consuming someone’s wealth), then it is impermissible.
- But if there is no such Shar‘i violation, then it is permissible.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
