Selling Goods through Lies is Prohibited
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Selling goods by lying is ḥarām (forbidden).
Lying or taking false oaths in buying and selling is absolutely impermissible. Such actions also remove blessings from one’s trade.
➊ ʿAbdullāh ibn Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
“(A false) oath may make a sale possible, but it erases the blessing.”
[Bukhārī: 2087, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb yamḥaqu Allāhu al-ribā wa-yurbi al-ṣadaqāt]
➋ The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
ثلاثة لا يكلمهم الله يوم القيامة ولا ينظر إليهم ولا يزكيهم ولهم عذاب أليم والـمـنـفـق سلعته بالحلف الكاذب
“There are three types of people whom Allāh will neither speak to on the Day of Judgment, nor look at them, nor purify them — and for them is a painful punishment. One of them is the person who sells goods by taking a false oath.”
[Muslim: 154, Kitāb al-Īmān: Bāb bayān ghilẓ taḥrīm isbāl al-izār wa’l-mann bi’l-ʿaṭiyyah]
➌ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Shibl رضي الله عنه reports:
I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ say:
إن التجار هــم الفجار ، قالوا: يا رسول الله أليس قد أحل الله البيع؟ قال: بلى ، ولكنهم يحلفون فيأثمون ، ويحدثون فيكذبون
“Indeed, the traders are sinful people.”
The people said, “O Messenger of Allāh, has not Allāh permitted trade?”
He ﷺ replied, “Yes, but they take oaths and commit sins, and when they speak, they lie.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb: 1786, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb targhīb al-tujjār fī al-ṣidq; Aḥmad: 4/428–444; Ḥākim: 2/6]
➍ Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ رضي الله عنه narrates:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يخرج إلينا وكنا تجارا و كان يقول يا معشر التجار إياكم و الكذب
“The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ used to come out to us when we were traders and would say: ‘O assembly of traders! Beware of lying.’”
[Ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrih: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb: 1793, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb targhīb al-tujjār fī al-ṣidq; reported by Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr with an isnād that is sound]
➎ ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Awfā رضي الله عنه narrates:
A man once displayed goods in the market and swore by Allāh that he had been offered such-and-such price for it, though in reality he had not been offered that price. His intention was to deceive a Muslim. Upon this, the following verse was revealed:
”إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ وَأَيْمَانِهِمْ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا“ [Āl ʿImrān: 77]
“Indeed, those who exchange the covenant of Allāh and their oaths for a small price…”
[Bukhārī: 2088, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb mā yukrahu min al-ḥalaf fī al-bayʿ]
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Selling goods by lying is ḥarām (forbidden).
Lying or taking false oaths in buying and selling is absolutely impermissible. Such actions also remove blessings from one’s trade.
➊ ʿAbdullāh ibn Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
“(A false) oath may make a sale possible, but it erases the blessing.”
[Bukhārī: 2087, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb yamḥaqu Allāhu al-ribā wa-yurbi al-ṣadaqāt]
➋ The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
ثلاثة لا يكلمهم الله يوم القيامة ولا ينظر إليهم ولا يزكيهم ولهم عذاب أليم والـمـنـفـق سلعته بالحلف الكاذب
“There are three types of people whom Allāh will neither speak to on the Day of Judgment, nor look at them, nor purify them — and for them is a painful punishment. One of them is the person who sells goods by taking a false oath.”
[Muslim: 154, Kitāb al-Īmān: Bāb bayān ghilẓ taḥrīm isbāl al-izār wa’l-mann bi’l-ʿaṭiyyah]
➌ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Shibl رضي الله عنه reports:
I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ say:
إن التجار هــم الفجار ، قالوا: يا رسول الله أليس قد أحل الله البيع؟ قال: بلى ، ولكنهم يحلفون فيأثمون ، ويحدثون فيكذبون
“Indeed, the traders are sinful people.”
The people said, “O Messenger of Allāh, has not Allāh permitted trade?”
He ﷺ replied, “Yes, but they take oaths and commit sins, and when they speak, they lie.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb: 1786, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb targhīb al-tujjār fī al-ṣidq; Aḥmad: 4/428–444; Ḥākim: 2/6]
➍ Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ رضي الله عنه narrates:
كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يخرج إلينا وكنا تجارا و كان يقول يا معشر التجار إياكم و الكذب
“The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ used to come out to us when we were traders and would say: ‘O assembly of traders! Beware of lying.’”
[Ṣaḥīḥ li-ghayrih: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb: 1793, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb targhīb al-tujjār fī al-ṣidq; reported by Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr with an isnād that is sound]
➎ ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Awfā رضي الله عنه narrates:
A man once displayed goods in the market and swore by Allāh that he had been offered such-and-such price for it, though in reality he had not been offered that price. His intention was to deceive a Muslim. Upon this, the following verse was revealed:
”إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ وَأَيْمَانِهِمْ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا“ [Āl ʿImrān: 77]
“Indeed, those who exchange the covenant of Allāh and their oaths for a small price…”
[Bukhārī: 2088, Kitāb al-Buyūʿ: Bāb mā yukrahu min al-ḥalaf fī al-bayʿ]
