Muwatta' Malik 31-26

Translation

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muzabana and muhaqala. Muzabana was selling fresh dates for dried dates. Muhaqala was buying unharvested wheat in exchange for threshed wheat and renting land in exchange for wheat. Ibn Shihab added that he had asked Said ibn al-Musayyab about renting land for gold and silver. He said, "There is no harm in it." Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muzabana. The explanation of muzabana is that it is buying something whose number, weight and measure is not known with something whose number, weight or measure is known, for instance, if a man has a stack of food whose measure is not known, either of wheat, dates, or whatever food, or the man has goods of wheat, date kernels, herbs, safflower, cotton, flax, silk, and does not know its measure or weight or number and then a buyer approaches him and proposes that he weigh or measure or count the goods, but, before he does, he specifies a certain weight, or measure, or number and guarantees to pay the price for that amount, agreeing that whatever falls short of that amount is a loss against him and whatever is in excess of that amount is a gain for him. That is not a sale. It is taking risks and it is an uncertain transaction. It falls into the category of gambling because he is not buying something from him for something definite which he pays. Everything which resembles this is also forbidden." Malik said that another example of that was, for instance, a man proposing to another man, "You have cloth. I will guarantee you from this cloth of yours so many hooded cloaks, the measureof each cloak to be such-and-such, (naming a measurement). Whatever loss there is, is against me and I will fulfill you the specified amount and whatever excess there is, is mine." Or perhaps the man proposed, "I will guarantee you from this cloth of yours so many shirts, the measurement of each shirt to be such-and-such, and whatever loss there is, is against me and I will fulfill the specified amount and whatever excess there is, is mine." Or perhaps a man proposed to a man who had cattle or camel hides, "I will cut up these hides of yours into sandals on a pattern I will show you. Whatever falls short of a hundred pairs, I will make up its loss and whatever is over is mine because I guaranteed you." Another example was that a man say to a man who had ben-nuts, "I will press these nuts of yours. Whatever falls short of such-and-such a weight by the pound, I will make it up, and whatever is more than that is mine." Malik said that all this and whatever else was like it or resembled it was in the category of muzabana, which was neither good nor permitted. It was also the same case for a man to say to a man, who had fodder leaves, date kernels, cotton, flax, herbs or safflower, "I will buy these leaves from you in exchange for such-and-such a sa, (indicating leaves which are pounded like his leaves).. or these date kernels for such-and-such a sa of kernels like them, and the like of that in the case of safflower, cotton, flax and herbs." Malik said, "All this is what we have described of muzabana."

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Other narrations of this report

Sahih Muslim 1536oMusnad Ahmad 14242Musnad Ahmad 14269Musnad Ahmad 15211al-Sunan al-Kubra (al-Bayhaqi) 10750al-Sunan al-Kubra (al-Nasa'i) 4581

Narrators

1. 1
   Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib

   One of the reliable (athbāt), eminent jurist scholarsd. 87 AH, or 93 AH, or 94 AH, or 95 AH, or 100 AH, Ibn Maʿīn and Ibn al-Madīnī said: 105 AH
   سَعِيد بْن الْمُسَيِّبأحد العلماء الأثبات الفقهاء الكبار
   عن
2. 2
   al-Zuhrī

   The jurist and memorizer (ḥāfiẓ), whose eminence, precision and reliability are agreed upond. Ḍamrah b. Rabīʿah and others said: 123 AH. The nephew of al-Zuhrī and others said: 124 AH. Ibn Yūnus and others said: 125 AH
   الزهريالفقيه الحافظ ، متفق على جلالته وإتقانه وثبته
   عن
3. 3
   Mālik b. Anas

   The jurist (al-faqīh), the Imam of the Abode of Migration (Imām Dār al-Hijrah), the head of the proficient masters, and the foremost among the meticulous.d. 178 AH, or 179 AH
   مالك بن أنسالفقيه ، إمام دار الهجرة ، رأس المتقنين ، وكبير المتثبتين

Who each narrator was and how reliable, from hdith.com

Latin names and English verdicts with a dotted underline are machine translations, not reviewed.