Prohibition of Separating Close Relatives Through Sale and a City Dweller Selling for a Bedouin
✍ Written by: Imran Ayoob Lahori
① Hazrat Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من فرق بين والدة وولدها فرق الله بينه وبين أحبته يوم القيامة
"Whoever separates a mother from her child, Allah will separate him from his loved ones on the Day of Resurrection."
References: Sahih al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir 6412, Tirmidhi 1283, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ…, Ahmad 5/413, Hakim 2/55, Daraqutni 3/67, Ṭabarani al-Kabīr 4/182
② Hazrat ʿAli (رضي الله عنه) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded him to sell two slave brothers. He sold them to two separate buyers and later informed the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
أدركهما فارتجعهما ولا تبعهما إلا جميعا
"Go and bring them back, and do not sell them except together."
References: Weak — Daʿīf Tirmidhi 219, Ahmad 1/126, Hakim 2/54, Daraqutni 3/65, Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 3/107; graded ḥasan by Shaykh Muhammad Subhi Ḥallāq in Taʿlīq ʿala Subul al-Salām 5/72
③ Hazrat ʿAli (رضي الله عنه) said that he once separated a slave woman from her child, and the Prophet ﷺ forbade it and annulled the sale.
References: Hasan — Sahih Abu Dawood 7345, Abu Dawood 2696, Daraqutni 3/66, Hakim 2/55
Ruling:
Separating a mother from her child, siblings from each other, or a slave woman from her child is haram, whether through sale or any other means. By analogy, the same applies to the father and all other close relatives (maḥārim).
References: Tuhfat al-Aḥwadhī 4/572, Subul al-Salām 3/1086, Nayl al-Awṭār 3/534, Al-Mabsūṭ 13/140, Mirqāt 6/528
① Hazrat Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) narrates:
نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يبيع حاضر لباد
"The Prophet ﷺ forbade a city dweller from selling for a Bedouin."
References: Bukhari 2159, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ…, Nasa’i 7/256
② Hazrat Jabir (رضي الله عنه) reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا يبع حاضر لباد
"A city dweller should not sell for a Bedouin."
Then he added: "Leave people as they are; Allah will provide for them from one another."
References: Muslim 2522, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ…, Ahmad 3/307, Abu Dawood 3442, Tirmidhi 1223, Nasa’i 7/256, Ibn Mājah 2176, Bayhaqi 5/346
③ Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه) narrates:
نهينا أن يبيع حاضر لباد، إن كان أخاه لأبيه وأمه
"We were forbidden for a city dweller to sell for a Bedouin, even if he were his full brother."
References: Bukhari 2161, Muslim 1523, Abu Dawood 3440, Nasa’i 7/256
④ Hazrat Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا تلقوا الركبان ولا يبع حاضر لباد
"Do not meet caravans before they arrive, and let no city dweller sell for a Bedouin."
Reference: Bukhari 2158, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ…
Explanation (Imam Nawawi رحمه الله):
This means that a person from the city meets a Bedouin or someone bringing goods from another town — goods needed by everyone — and tells him: “Leave the goods with me so I can sell them gradually at a higher price.”
Preferred Opinion (Rājiḥ): The view of the majority is correct.
Additional Note: Just as it is prohibited for a city dweller to sell for a Bedouin, it is also prohibited for him to buy from a Bedouin in such a manner, since the word bayʿ in Arabic includes both selling and buying.
References: ʿUmdat al-Qārī 9/387, Tuhfat al-Aḥwadhī 4/470, Nayl al-Awṭār 3/538
✍ Written by: Imran Ayoob Lahori
Prohibition of Separating Close Relatives Through Sale
① Hazrat Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من فرق بين والدة وولدها فرق الله بينه وبين أحبته يوم القيامة
"Whoever separates a mother from her child, Allah will separate him from his loved ones on the Day of Resurrection."
References: Sahih al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir 6412, Tirmidhi 1283, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ…, Ahmad 5/413, Hakim 2/55, Daraqutni 3/67, Ṭabarani al-Kabīr 4/182
② Hazrat ʿAli (رضي الله عنه) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded him to sell two slave brothers. He sold them to two separate buyers and later informed the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
أدركهما فارتجعهما ولا تبعهما إلا جميعا
"Go and bring them back, and do not sell them except together."
References: Weak — Daʿīf Tirmidhi 219, Ahmad 1/126, Hakim 2/54, Daraqutni 3/65, Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid 3/107; graded ḥasan by Shaykh Muhammad Subhi Ḥallāq in Taʿlīq ʿala Subul al-Salām 5/72
③ Hazrat ʿAli (رضي الله عنه) said that he once separated a slave woman from her child, and the Prophet ﷺ forbade it and annulled the sale.
References: Hasan — Sahih Abu Dawood 7345, Abu Dawood 2696, Daraqutni 3/66, Hakim 2/55
Ruling:
Separating a mother from her child, siblings from each other, or a slave woman from her child is haram, whether through sale or any other means. By analogy, the same applies to the father and all other close relatives (maḥārim).
- If separation occurs, is the sale valid?
- Imam Shafiʿi (رحمه الله): Sale is invalid.
- Imam Abu Hanifah (رحمه الله): Sale is valid.
- Preferred Opinion (Rājiḥ): The hadith wording "ورد البيع" (“and he annulled the sale”) supports Imam Shafiʿi’s view.
References: Tuhfat al-Aḥwadhī 4/572, Subul al-Salām 3/1086, Nayl al-Awṭār 3/534, Al-Mabsūṭ 13/140, Mirqāt 6/528
Prohibition of a City Dweller Selling for a Bedouin
① Hazrat Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنهما) narrates:
نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يبيع حاضر لباد
"The Prophet ﷺ forbade a city dweller from selling for a Bedouin."
References: Bukhari 2159, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ…, Nasa’i 7/256
② Hazrat Jabir (رضي الله عنه) reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا يبع حاضر لباد
"A city dweller should not sell for a Bedouin."
Then he added: "Leave people as they are; Allah will provide for them from one another."
References: Muslim 2522, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ…, Ahmad 3/307, Abu Dawood 3442, Tirmidhi 1223, Nasa’i 7/256, Ibn Mājah 2176, Bayhaqi 5/346
③ Hazrat Anas (رضي الله عنه) narrates:
نهينا أن يبيع حاضر لباد، إن كان أخاه لأبيه وأمه
"We were forbidden for a city dweller to sell for a Bedouin, even if he were his full brother."
References: Bukhari 2161, Muslim 1523, Abu Dawood 3440, Nasa’i 7/256
④ Hazrat Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا تلقوا الركبان ولا يبع حاضر لباد
"Do not meet caravans before they arrive, and let no city dweller sell for a Bedouin."
Reference: Bukhari 2158, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ…
Explanation (Imam Nawawi رحمه الله):
This means that a person from the city meets a Bedouin or someone bringing goods from another town — goods needed by everyone — and tells him: “Leave the goods with me so I can sell them gradually at a higher price.”
- Majority & Imam Shafiʿi (رحمه الله): This is haram.
- Imam Abu Hanifah (رحمه الله): Permissible, claiming the ahadith are abrogated.
- Imam al-Sanʿani (رحمه الله): The claim of abrogation is incorrect.
References: Fatḥ al-Bārī 4/371, Tuhfat al-Aḥwadhī 4/469
Preferred Opinion (Rājiḥ): The view of the majority is correct.
Additional Note: Just as it is prohibited for a city dweller to sell for a Bedouin, it is also prohibited for him to buy from a Bedouin in such a manner, since the word bayʿ in Arabic includes both selling and buying.
References: ʿUmdat al-Qārī 9/387, Tuhfat al-Aḥwadhī 4/470, Nayl al-Awṭār 3/538
