Shari‘ah Principles on Bartering Animals with Surplus or on Credit
✍ Written by: Saudi Fatwa Committee (Fatāwā al-Lajnah ad-Dā'imah)
The buying and selling of animals in exchange for other animals, even with an increase or on credit, is permissible in Islam.
It is narrated in Musnad Ahmad and Sunan Abū Dāwūd on the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr (RA):
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed me to dispatch a military unit using the camels that were under my care. I did so until the camels were exhausted, but some soldiers were still left without mounts. I said: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the camels are finished and people still remain without transportation. He ﷺ said to me: Buy camels for us in their place, even if on credit, until the charity camels (zakah camels) arrive. So I continued to buy a camel in exchange for two or three she-camels on credit until the army was completed. When the charity camels arrived, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ repaid the debts.
(Sunan Abū Dāwūd, Hadith 2823)
Similar reports are found:
✔ In Dārquṭnī’s collection
✔ In Bayhaqī’s Sunan, through the narration of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather
These reinforce the permissibility of buying an animal in exchange for more than one animal or on deferred payment, especially when done out of need or necessity, and as long as the transaction remains free of deception and ambiguity.
(Reference: al-Lajnah ad-Dā'imah, Fatwa No. 6904)
✍ Written by: Saudi Fatwa Committee (Fatāwā al-Lajnah ad-Dā'imah)
✦ Ruling on Bartering One Animal for Another with Increase or Delay
The buying and selling of animals in exchange for other animals, even with an increase or on credit, is permissible in Islam.
✦ Evidence from Hadith
It is narrated in Musnad Ahmad and Sunan Abū Dāwūd on the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr (RA):
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed me to dispatch a military unit using the camels that were under my care. I did so until the camels were exhausted, but some soldiers were still left without mounts. I said: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the camels are finished and people still remain without transportation. He ﷺ said to me: Buy camels for us in their place, even if on credit, until the charity camels (zakah camels) arrive. So I continued to buy a camel in exchange for two or three she-camels on credit until the army was completed. When the charity camels arrived, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ repaid the debts.
(Sunan Abū Dāwūd, Hadith 2823)
✦ Supporting Narrations
Similar reports are found:
✔ In Dārquṭnī’s collection
✔ In Bayhaqī’s Sunan, through the narration of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather
These reinforce the permissibility of buying an animal in exchange for more than one animal or on deferred payment, especially when done out of need or necessity, and as long as the transaction remains free of deception and ambiguity.
(Reference: al-Lajnah ad-Dā'imah, Fatwa No. 6904)
