Sunan Abi Dawud

We made a journey to Syria on an expedition along with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The Nabateans of Syria came to us and we paid in advance to them (in a salam contract) in wheat and olive oil at a specified rate and for a specified time. He asked (by the people): you might have contracted with him who had these things in his possession? He replied: We did not ask them.

A man paid in advance for a palm-tree. It did not bear fruit that year. They brought their case for decision to the Prophet (ﷺ). He said: for which do you make his property lawful? He then said: Do not pay in advance for a palm-tree till they (the fruits) were clearly in good condition.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone pays in advance he must not transfer it to someone else before he receives it.

In the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) a man suffered loss affecting fruits he had bought and owed a large debt, so the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Give him sadaqah (alms). So the people gave him sadaqah (alms), but as that was not enough to pay the debt in full, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Take what you find. But that is all you may have.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If you were to sell dried dates to your brother and they were smitten by blight, it will not be allowable for you to take your brother's property unjustly.

Blight means anything which obviously damages (the crop), by rain, hail, locust, blast of wind, or fire.

Blight is not effective when less than one-third of goods are damaged. Yayha said: That has been the established practice of Muslims.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Excess water should not be withheld so as to prevent (cattle) by it from grass.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: There are three people who Allah will not address on the Day of Judgement: a man who prevents traveller from the excess water which he has with him; and a man who swears for the goods (for sale) after the afternoon prayer, that is, (he swears) falsely; and a man who takes the oath of allegiance to a ruler (imam); if he gives him (something), he fullfils (the oath of allegiance) to him, if he does not give him (anything), he does not fulfill it.

"He used: 'Not purify them ; grievously will be their penalty.'" He said about (selling) the goods: I swear by Allah, I was given (the price) so and so for it. The other man considered it to be correct and bought it.

On the authority of her father: My father asked the Prophet (ﷺ) for permission (to kiss his body). (When he was given permission), lifting his shirt he approached his body, and began to kiss and stick to him. He then asked: Prophet of Allah, what is the thing withholding of which is not lawful ? He replied: Water. He asked: Prophet of Allah, what is the thing withholding of which is not lawful ? He replied: Salt. He again asked: Prophet of Allah, what is the thing withholding of which is not lawful ? He said: That you do a good work is better for you.

A man from the immigrants of the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) said: I participated in battle three times along with the Prophet (ﷺ). I heard him say: Muslims have common share in three (things). grass, water and fire.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade the sale of excess water.

The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade payment for dog and cat.

The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade payment for cat.

The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade the price paid for a dog, the hire paid to prostitute, and the gift given to a soothsayer.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade the price paid for a dog; if someone comes to ask for the price of a dog, fill his hand-palm with dust.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)forbade the price paid for a dog.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The price paid for a dog, the price given to a soothsayer, and the hire paid to a prostitute are not lawful.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Allah forbade wine and the price paid for it, and forbade dead meat and the price paid for it, and forbade swine and the price paid for it.

That he heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say in the year of the Conquest when he was in Mecca: Allah has forbidden the sale of wine, animals which have dead natural death, swine and idols. He was asked: Messenger of Allah, what do you think of the fat of animals which had died a natural death, for it was used for caulking ships, greasing skins, and making oil for lamps? He replies: No, it is forbidden. Thereafter, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: May Allah curse the Jews! When Allah declared the fat of such animals lawful, they melted it, then sold it, and enjoyed the price they received.

Jabir wrote to me a similar tradition. But he did not say in this version "It is forbidden."

I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sitting neat the Black stone (or at a corner of the Ka'bah). He said: He (the Prophet) raised his eyes towards the heaven, and laughed, and he said: May Allah curse the Jews! He said this three times. Allah declared unlawful for them the fats (of the animals which died a natural death); they sold them and they enjoyed the price they received for them. When Allah declared eating of thing forbidden for the people, He declares it price also forbidden for them. The version of Khalid b. 'Abd Allah al-Tahhan does not have the words "I saw". It has: "May Allah destroy the Jews!"

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who sold wine should shear the flesh of swine.

When the last verses of Surat al-Baqarah were revealed, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came out and recited them to us and siad: Trading in wine has been forbidden.

"The last verses about usury."

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone buys grain, he must not sell it till receives it in full.

During the time of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) we used to buy grain, and he sent a man to us who ordered us to move it from the spot where we had bought it to some other place, before we sold it without weighing or measuring it.

They (the people) used to buy grain in the upper part of the market in the same spot without measuring or weighing it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade them to sell it there before removing it.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade to sell grain which one buys by measurement until one receives it in full.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone buys grain, he should not sell it until he measures it. Abu Bakr added in his version: I asked Ibn 'Abbas: Why ? He replied: Do you not see that they sell (grain) for gold, but the grain is still with the seller.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: If anyone buys a grain, he should not sell it until he takes possession of it. Sulaiman b. Harb said: Until he receives it in full. Musaddad added: Ibn 'Abbas said: And I think that everything is like grain.

I saw that during the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) the people were beaten when they bought grain on the same spot and sold it there without moving it to their houses.

I bought olive oil in the market. When I became its owner, a man met me and offered good profit for it. I intended to settle the bargain with him, but a man caught hold of my hand from behind. When I turned I found that he was Zayd ibn Thabit. He said: Do not sell it on the spot where you have bought it until you take it to your house, for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade to sell the goods where they are bought until the tradesmen take them to their houses.

A man told the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that he was being deceived in business transactions. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said: When you make a bargain, say: There is no attempt to deceive. So when the man made a bargain, he said: There is no attempt to deceive.

During the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) a man used to buy (goods), and he was weak in his intellect. His people came to the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) and said: Prophet of Allah, stop so-and-so (to make a bargain) for he buys (goods), but he is weak in his intellect. So the Prophet (ﷺ) called on him and forbade him to make a bargain. He said: Prophet of Allah, I cannot keep away myself from business transactions. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: If you cannot give up making a bargain , then say: Take , and give, and there is no attempt to deceive.

On his father's authority, said that his grandfather told that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade the type of transactions in which earnest money was paid. Malik said: This means, as we think--Allah better knows-that a man buys a slave or hires an animal, and he says: I give you a dinar on condition that if I give up the transaction or hire, what I gave you is yours.

Hakim asked (the Prophet): Messenger of Allah, a man comes to me and wants me to sell him something which is not in my possession. Should I buy it for him from the market? He replied: Do not sell what you do not possess.

On his father's authority, said that his grandfather 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: The proviso of a loan combined with a sale is not allowable, nor two conditions relating to one transaction, nor profit arising from something which is not in one's charge, nor selling what is not in your possession.

I sold it, that is, camel, to the Prophet (ﷺ), but I made the stipulation that I should be allowed to ride it to home. At the end he (the Prophet) said: Do you think that I made this transaction with you so that I take your camel ? Take your camel and its price; both are yours.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The contractual obligation of a slave is three days.

"If he finds defect (in the slave) within three days, he may return it without evidence; if he finds a defect after three days, he will be required to produce evidence that he (the slave) had the defect when he bought it." Abu Dawud said: This explanation is from the words of Qatadah.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Profit follows responsibility.

I and some people were partners in a slave. I employed him on some work in the absence of one of the partners. He got earnings for me. He disputed me and the case of his claim to his share in the earnings to a judge, who ordered me to return the earnings (i.e. his share) to him. I then came to Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, and related the matter to him. Urwah then came to him and narrated to him a tradition from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the authority of Aisha: Profit follows responsibility.

A man bought a slave, and he remained with him as long as Allah wished him to remain. He then found defect in him. He brought his dispute with him to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he returned him to him. The man said: Messenger of Allah, my slave earned some wages. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said: Profit follows responsibility. Abu Dawud said: This chain of narrators (of this version) is not reliable.

Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath said: Al-Ash'ath bought slaves of booty from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud for twenty thousand (dirhams. Abdullah asked him for payment of their price. He said: I bought them for ten thousand (dirhams). Abdullah said: Appoint a man who may adjudicate between me and you. Al-Ash'ath said: (I appoint) you between me and yourself. Abdullah said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If both parties in a business transaction differ (on the price of an article), and they have witness between them, the statement of the owner of the article will be accepted (as correct) or they may annul the transaction.

Ibn Mas'ud sold slaves to al-Ash'ath b. Qais. He then narrated the rest of the tradition to the same effect with some variation of words.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: There is the right of option regarding everything which is shared, whether a dwelling or a garden. It is not lawful to sell before informing one's partner, but if he sells without informing him, he has the greatest right to it.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) decreed the right to buy the neighboring property applicable to everything which is not divided, but when boundaries are fixed and separate roads made, there is no option.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When land has been divided and boundaries have been set up, there is no right of pre-emption in it.