Prohibition of Selling What the Seller Does Not Possess
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
➊ ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
«ولا بيع ما ليس عندك»
“And do not sell what you do not possess.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 1212; al-Dāraqutnī: 3/57; al-Ḥākim: 2/17; Aḥmad: 2/187]
➋ Ḥaḍrat Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām رضي الله عنه said: I asked, “O Messenger of Allāh, a man comes to me wanting to purchase something which I do not have — can I buy it from the market and deliver it to him?” The Prophet ﷺ replied:
«لا تبع ما ليس عندك»
“Do not sell what you do not possess.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 1292; Abū Dāwūd: 3503, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb fī al-rajul yabīʿ mā laysa ʿindahu; al-Tirmidhī: 1232; al-Nasāʾī: 7/289; Ibn Mājah: 2187; Aḥmad: 3/402; al-Bayhaqī: 5/317]
The second ḥadīth clarifies the ruling further — it is not permissible to sell something which, at the time of the sale, is not in the seller’s ownership.
[Subul al-Salām: 3/1072; Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 4/490]
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
➊ ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
«ولا بيع ما ليس عندك»
“And do not sell what you do not possess.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 1212; al-Dāraqutnī: 3/57; al-Ḥākim: 2/17; Aḥmad: 2/187]
➋ Ḥaḍrat Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām رضي الله عنه said: I asked, “O Messenger of Allāh, a man comes to me wanting to purchase something which I do not have — can I buy it from the market and deliver it to him?” The Prophet ﷺ replied:
«لا تبع ما ليس عندك»
“Do not sell what you do not possess.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 1292; Abū Dāwūd: 3503, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb fī al-rajul yabīʿ mā laysa ʿindahu; al-Tirmidhī: 1232; al-Nasāʾī: 7/289; Ibn Mājah: 2187; Aḥmad: 3/402; al-Bayhaqī: 5/317]
The second ḥadīth clarifies the ruling further — it is not permissible to sell something which, at the time of the sale, is not in the seller’s ownership.
[Subul al-Salām: 3/1072; Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī: 4/490]
