Ibn Umar said that Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) prescribed the payment of Zakat-ul-Fitr (on breaking the fast) of Ramadan for people, for every freeman, or slave, male and female among the Muslims-one sa' of dried dates, or one sa' of barley.

Ibn Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) prescribed Zakat-ul-Fitr of Ramadan one sa' of dates or one sa' of barley for every individual among the Muslims (whether) free man or slave, male or female, young or old.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Abu'z-Zinad heard Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab andSulayman ibn Yasar forbid a man to sell wheat for gold on delayed terms and then to buy dried dates with the gold before he had taken delivery of the gold.

In the lifetime of Allah's Apostle , we used to give one Sa' of food (edible things) as Sadaqat-ul-Fitr (to the poor). Our food used to be either of barley, raisins (dried grapes), cottage cheese or dates.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn Qusayt saw Said ibn al-Musayyab sell gold counterpoising for gold. He poured his gold into one pan of the scales, and the man with whom he was counterpoising put his gold in the other pan of the scale and when the tongue of the scales was balanced, they took and gave.

Malik said, "According to the way things are done among us there is no harm in selling gold for gold, and silver for silver by counterpoising weight, even if 11 dinars are taken for 10 dinars hand to hand, when the weight of gold is equal, coin for coin, even if the number is different. Dirhams in such a situation are treated the same way as dinars."

Malik said, "If, when counterpoising gold for gold or silver for silver, there is a difference of weight, one party should not give the other the value of the difference in silver or something else. Such a transaction is ugly and a means to usury because if one of the parties were permitted to take the difference for a separate price, it could be as if he had bought it separately, so he would be permitted. Then it would be possible for him to ask for many times the value of the difference in order to permit the completion of the transaction between the two parties.

Malik said, "If he had really been sold the difference without anything else with it, he would not have taken it for a tenth of the price for which he took it in order to put a 'legal front' on the transaction. This leads to allowing what is forbidden . The matter is forbidden."

Malik said that it was not good when counterpoising to give good old gold coins and put along with them unminted gold in exchange for worn kufic gold, which was unpopular and to then treat the exchange as like for like.

Malik said, "The commentary on why that is disapproved is that the owner of the good gold uses the excellence of his old gold coins as an excuse to throw in the unminted gold with it. Had it not been for the superiority of his (good) gold over the gold of the other party, the other party would not have counterpoised the unminted gold for his kufic gold, and the deal would have been refused.

"It is like a man wanting to buy three sa of ajwa dried dates for two sa and a mudd of kabis dates, and on being told that it was not good, then offering two sa of kabis and a sa of poor dates desiring to make the sale possible. That is not good because the owner of the ajwa should not give him a sa of ajwa for a sa of poor dates. He would only give him that because of the excellence of kabis dates.

"Or it is like a man asking some one to sell him three sa of white wheat for two and a half sa of Syrian wheat, and being told that it was not good except like for like, and so offering two sa of wheat and one sa of barley intending to make the sale possible between them. That is not good because no one would have given a sa of barley for a sa of white wheat had that sa been by itself. It was only given because of the excellence of Syrian wheat over the white wheat. This is not good. It is the same as the case of the unminted gold."

Malik said, "Where gold, silver and food, things which should only be sold like for like, are concerned, something disliked and of poor quality should not be put with something good and desirable in order to make the sale possible and to make a bad situation halal. When something of desirable quality is put with something of poor quality and it is only included so that its excellence in quality is noticed, something is being sold which if it had been sold on its own, would not have been accepted and to which the buyer would not have paid any attention. It is only accepted by the buyer because of the superiority of what comes with it over his own goods. Transactions involving gold, silver, or food, must not have anything of this description enter into them. If the owner of the poor quality goods wants to sell them, he sells them on their own, and does not put anything with them. There is no harm if it is like that."

"The Messenger of Allah (saws) prohibited taking two dates at a time until seeking permission from one's companion."

He said: There is something on this topic from Sa'd the freed slave of Abu Bakr.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih.

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever buys a sheep which has been kept unmilked for a long period, and milks it, can keep it if he is satisfied, and if he is not satisfied, he can return it, but he should pay one Sa of dates for the milk."

Abu Talha had a child who was sick. Once, while Abu Talha was out, the child died. When Abu Talha returned home, he asked, "How does my son fare?" Um Salaim (his wife) replied, "He is quieter than he has ever been." Then she brought supper for him and he took his supper and slept with her. When he had finished, she said (to him), "Bury the child (as he's dead)." Next morning Abu Talha came to Allah's Apostle and told him about that. The Prophet said (to him), "Did you sleep with your wife last night?" Abu Talha said, "Yes". The Prophet said, "O Allah! Bestow your blessing on them as regards that night of theirs." Um Sulaim gave birth to a boy. Abu Talha told me to take care of the child till it was taken to the Prophet. Then Abu Talha took the child to the Prophet and Um Sulaim sent some dates along with the child. The Prophet took the child (on his lap) and asked if there was something with him. The people replied, "Yes, a few dates." The Prophet took a date, chewed it, took some of it out of his mouth, put it into the child's mouth and did Tahnik for him with that, and named him 'Abdullah.

(Later on) Allah's Apostle (once again) went along with Ubai bin Ka'b to the garden of date-palms where Ibn Saiyad was staying. When the Prophet entered the garden, he started hiding himself behind the trunks of the date-palms as he wanted to hear something from the Ibn Saiyad before the latter could see him. Ibn Saiyad was lying in his bed, covered with a velvet sheet from where his murmurs were heard. Ibn Saiyad's mother saw the Prophet while he was hiding himself behind the trunks of the date-palms. She addressed Ibn Saiyad, "O Saf!" (And this was his name). Ibn Saiyad got up. The Prophet said, "Had this woman let him to himself, he would have revealed the reality of his case." Then the Prophet got up amongst the people, glorifying Allah as He deserves, he mentioned Ad-Dajjal, saying, "I warn you about him (i.e. Ad-Dajjal) and there is no prophet who did not warn his nation about him, and Noah warned his nation about him, but I tell you a statement which no prophet informed his nation of. You should understand that he is a one-eyed man and Allah is not one-eyed."

Abu Dawud said: The version narrated by Mu’ammar on the authority of al-Zuhri has: She (‘A’ishah) said: I and the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) took a bath from a vessel which was equal to al-faraq in measurement (i.e., containing water about seven or eight seers).

Abu Dawud said: Ibn ‘Uyainah also narrated like the version of Malik.

Abu Dawud said; I heard Ahmad b. Hanbal say: Al-Faraq contains sixteen rotls (of water). I also heard him say: The sa’of of Ibn Abi Dhi’b contained 5 rotls (of water). The view that a sa’ contains eight rotls (of water) is not safe.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) say: Whoever gave 5 1/3 rotls (measuring) with our rotl alms of fitr (sadaqat al-fitr), he gave in full, Thereupon he was questioned: Are the dates called al-saihani heavier (can one sa’ of them be given as alms of fitr)? He replied: The dates called al-saihani are good. But I do not know (whether water is heavier or the dates).

The Messenger of Allah (saws) came out from the valley of a mountain where he had eased himself. There were some dried dates on a shield before us. We called him and he ate with us. He did not touch water.

A hadith like this has been narrated on the authority of Qatada with the same chain of transmitters by different narrators (except this difference) that in the hadith transmitted by Taimi and Umar b. Amir and Hisham (the date of setting out is) 18th, and in the hadith transmitted by Sa'id it is the 12th, and in the one transmitted by Shu'ba it is the 17th or 19th.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr that his grandfather, Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm sold the fruit of an orchard of his called al-Afraq, for 4,000 dirhams, and he kept aside 800 dirhams' worth of dry dates.

The Ansar said to the Prophet "Distribute the date palm trees between us and our emigrant brothers." He replied, "No." The Ansar said (to the emigrants), "Look after the trees (water and watch them) and share the fruits with us." The emigrants said, "We listen and obey."

The Prophet got the date palm trees of the tribe of Bani-An-Nadir burnt and the trees cut down at a place called Al-Buwaira . Hassan bin Thabit said in a poetic verse: "The chiefs of Bani Lu'ai found it easy to watch fire spreading at Al-Buwaira."

The Prophet came to Medina and the people used to pay in advance the price of dates to be delivered within two or three years. He said (to them), "Whoever pays in advance the price of a thing to be delivered later should pay it for a specified measure at specified weight for a specified period."

The Ansar said to the Prophet, "Divide our date-palms between us and our emigrant brothers." The Prophet said, "No." The Ansar said to the emigrants, "You may do the labor (in our gardens) and we will share the fruits with you." The emigrants said, "We hear and obey."

When Az-Zubair married me, he had no real property or any slave or anything else except a camel which drew water from the well, and his horse. I used to feed his horse with fodder and drew water and sew the bucket for drawing it, and prepare the dough, but I did not know how to bake bread. So our Ansari neighbors used to bake bread for me, and they were honorable ladies. I used to carry the date stones on my head from Zubair's land given to him by Allah's Apostle and this land was two third Farsakh (about two miles) from my house. One day, while I was coming with the date stones on my head, I met Allah's Apostle along with some Ansari people. He called me and then, (directing his camel to kneel down) said, "Ikh! Ikh!" so as to make me ride behind him (on his camel). I felt shy to travel with the men and remembered Az-Zubair and his sense of Ghira, as he was one of those people who had the greatest sense of Ghira. Allah's Apostle noticed that I felt shy, so he proceeded. I came to Az-Zubair and said, "I met Allah's Apostle while I was carrying a load of date stones on my head, and he had some companions with him. He made his camel kneel down so that I might ride, but I felt shy in his presence and remembered your sense of Ghira (See the glossary). On that Az-Zubair said, "By Allah, your carrying the date stones (and you being seen by the Prophet in such a state) is more shameful to me than your riding with him." (I continued serving in this way) till Abu Bakr sent me a servant to look after the horse, whereupon I felt as if he had set me free.

That the Prophet (saws) said: "Gold for gold, kind for kind; silver for silver, kind for kind; dried-dates for dried-dates, kind for kind; wheat for wheat, kind for kind; salt for salt, kind for kind; and barley for barley, kind for kind. Whoever increases or seeks an increase, then he dealt with Riba. Sell gold for silver as you wish, hand to hand; and sell wheat for dried-dates as you wish, hand to hand; and sell barley for dried-dates as you wish, hand to hand."

[He said:] There are narrations on this topic from Abu Sa'eed, Abu Hurairah, Bilal, And Anas.

[Abu 'Eisa said:] The Hadith of 'Ubadah bin As-Samit is Hasan Sahih. Some of them reported this Hadith from Khalid, with this chain, and he said: "Sell wheat for barley as you wish, hand to hand."

Some of them reported this Hadith from Khalid, from Abu Qilabah, from Ash'ath, from 'Ubadah from the Prophet (saws). In that Hadith, they added that Khalid said: "Abu Qilabah said: "Sell wheat for barley as you wish, hand to hand."

This Hadith is acted upon according to the people of knowledge, they do not think that one may sell wheat for wheat except when it is the same kind for the same kind, and (the same for) barely in exchange for barley, kind for kind. When the items are themselves different, then there is no harm in one being more than the other if it is hand to hand. This is saying of most of the people of knowledge among the Companions of the Prophet (saws) and others. It is the view of Sufyan Ath-Thawri, Ash-Shafi'i, Ahmad, and Ishaq. Ash-Shafi'i said: "And the proof for that is the saying of the Prophet (saws): 'Sell barley for wheat as you wish, hand to hand.'"

[Abu 'Eisa said:] Some of the people of knowledge considered it disliked that wheat be sold for barely unless it was kind for kind. This is the view of Malik bin Anas, but the first view is more correct.

When `Abdullah (my father) died, he left behind children and debts. I asked the lenders to put down some of his debt, but they refused, so I went to the Prophet to intercede with them, yet they refused. The Prophet said (to me), "Classify your dates into their different kinds: 'Adha bin Zaid, Lean and 'Ajwa, each kind alone and call all the creditors and wait till I come to you." I did so and the Prophet came and sat beside the dates and started measuring to each his due till he paid them fully, and the amount of dates remained as it was before, as if he had not touched them. (On another occasion) I took part in one of Ghazawat among with the Prophet and I was riding one of our camels. The camel got tired and was lagging behind the others. The Prophet hit it on its back. He said, "Sell it to me, and you have the right to ride it till Medina.'' When we approached Medina, I took the permission from the Prophet to go to my house, saying, "O Allah's Apostle! I have newly married." The Prophet asked, "Have you married a virgin or a matron (a widow or divorcee)?" I said, "I have married a matron, as `Abdullah (my father) died and left behind daughters small in their ages, so I married a matron who may teach them and bring them up with good manners." The Prophet then said (to me), "Go to your family." When I went there and told my maternal uncle about the selling of the camel, he admonished me for it. On that I told him about its slowness and exhaustion and about what the Prophet had done to the camel and his hitting it. When the Prophet arrived, I went to him with the camel in the morning and he gave me its price, the camel itself, and my share from the war booty as he gave the other people.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Gold is to be paid for with gold, raw and coined, silver with silver, raw and coined (in equal weight), wheat with wheat in equal measure, barley with barley in equal measure, dates with dates in equal measure, salt by salt with equal measure; if anyone gives more or asks more, he has dealt in usury. But there is no harm in selling gold for silver and silver (for gold), in unequal weight, payment being made on the spot. Do not sell them if they are to be paid for later. There is no harm in selling wheat for barley and barley (for wheat) in unequal measure, payment being made on the spot. If the payment is to be made later, then do not sell them.

Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by Sa'id b. Abi 'Arubah, Hisham al-Dastawa'i and Qatadah from Muslim b. Yasar through his chain.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd al-Hamid ibn Suhayl ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf from Said ibn al-Musayyab from Abu Said al- Khudri and from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, appointed a man as an agent in Khaybar, and he brought him some excellent dates. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Are all the dates of Khaybar like this?" He said,"No. By Allah, Messenger of Allah! We take a sa of this kind for two sa or two sa for three." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Do not do that. Sell the assorted ones for dirhams and then buy the good ones with the dirhams."

Allah's Apostle used to practice I`tikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan and once he stayed in I`tikaf till the night of the twenty-first and it was the night in the morning of which he used to come out of his I`tikaf. The Prophet said, "Whoever was in I`tikaf with me should stay in I`tikaf for the last ten days, for I was informed (of the date) of the Night (of Qadr) but I have been caused to forget it. (In the dream) I saw myself prostrating in mud and water in the morning of that night. So, look for it in the last ten nights and in the odd ones of them." It rained that night and the roof of the mosque dribbled as it was made of leaf stalks of date-palms. I saw with my own eyes the mark of mud and water on the forehead of the Prophet (i.e. in the morning of the twenty-first).

that Malik bin Aus said, "I was in need of change for one-hundred Dinars. Talha bin 'Ubaidullah called me and we discussed the matter, and he agreed to change (my Dinars). He took the gold pieces in his hands and fidgeted with them, and then said, "Wait till my storekeeper comes from the forest." `Umar was listening to that and said, "By Allah! You should not separate from Talha till you get the money from him, for Allah's Apostle said, 'The selling of gold for gold is Riba (usury) except if the exchange is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and similarly, the selling of wheat for wheat is Riba (usury) unless it is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and the selling of barley for barley is usury unless it is from hand to hand and equal in amount, and dates for dates, is usury unless it is from hand to hand and equal in amount"

Abu Usaid As-Sa`idi came and invited Allah's Apostle on the occasion of his wedding. His wife who was the bride, was serving them. Do you know what drink she prepared for Allah's Apostle ? She had soaked some dates in water in a Tur overnight.

A cloud came and it rained till the roof started leaking and in those days the roof used to be of the branches of date-palms. Iqama was pronounced and I saw Allah's Apostles prostrating in water and mud and even I saw the mark of mud on his forehead.

The Prophet used to stand by a stem of a date-palm tree (while delivering a sermon). When the pulpit was placed for him we heard that stem crying like a pregnant she-camel till the Prophet got down from the pulpit and placed his hand over it.

Ibn 'Umar (Allah be pleased with them) reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) forbade the sale of palm-trees (i. e. their trults) until the dates began to ripen, and ears of corn until they were white and were safe from blight. He forbade the seller and the buyer.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al- Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, 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."

I heard `Umar while he was on the pulpit of the Prophet saying, "Now then O people! The revelation about the prohibition of alcoholic drinks was revealed; and alcoholic drinks are extracted from five things: Grapes, dates, honey, wheat and barley. And the alcoholic drink is that which confuses and stupefies the mind."

The first child who was born in the Islamic Land (i.e. Medina) amongst the Emigrants, was `Abdullah bin Az-Zubair. They brought him to the Prophet. The Prophet took a date, and after chewing it, put its juice in his mouth. So the first thing that went into the child's stomach, was the saliva of the Prophet.

On the day of the battle of Uhud, a man came to the Prophet and said, "Can you tell me where I will be if I should get martyred?" The Prophet replied, "In Paradise." The man threw away some dates he was carrying in his hand, and fought till he was martyred .

Malik related to me from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father used to rent out his land for gold and silver.

Malik was asked about a man who rented his field for 100 sa of dates or part of its produce of wheat or from other than its produce. He disapproved of that.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talha that Anas ibn Malik said, "I saw Umar ibn al-Khattab when he was amir al-muminin being given a sa of dates, and he ate all of them, even the inferior ones."

I got a son and I took him to the Prophet who named him Ibrahim, and put in his mouth the juice of a date fruit (which be himself had chewed?, and invoked for Allah's blessing upon him, and then gave him back to me. He was the eldest son of Abii Musa.

The Prophet said, "The poor person is not the one for whom a date or two or a morsel or two (of food is sufficient but the poor person is he who does not (beg or) ask the people (for something) or show his poverty at all. Recite if you wish, (Allah's Statement): "They do not beg of people at all." (2.273)

When Allah bestowed Khaybar on His Prophet (saws) as fay' (as a result of conquest without fighting), the Messenger of Allah (saws) allowed (them) to remain there as they were before, and apportioned it between him and them. He then sent Abdullah ibn Rawahah who assessed (the amount of dates) upon them.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made the zakat of breaking the fast at the end of Ramadan obligatory on every muslim, whether freeman or slave, male or female, and stipulated it as a sa' of dates or a sa' of barley.

Allah's Apostle enjoined the payment of one Sa' of dates or one Sa' of barley as Zakat-ul-Fitr on every Muslim slave or free, male or female, young or old, and he ordered that it be paid before the people went out to offer the `Id prayer. (One Sa' = 3 Kilograms approx.)