Honest disclosure and the right to withdraw
Tell the buyer what is wrong with it, and let either side walk away before the deal closes.
13 narrations
the sources, in full
What the hadith say
about doing business
182 narrations on trade, wages, debt and dealing honestly — each with its Arabic, its translation, its reference, and its grading with the scholar who gave it. Grouped into fifteen themes so you can read the subject rather than the index.
Curated from the commerce books of the seven major collections — Kitab al-Buyu`, al-Ijarah, al-Salam, al-Shuf`a, al-Rahn, al-Shirkah and their equivalents — which together hold roughly 1,800 narrations. These are the ones that bear most directly on how a business is run.
This is a reference compilation, not a religious ruling. Narrations are reproduced from published translations with their references and their gradings, each attributed to the scholar who gave it — graders disagree, and we show the disagreement rather than resolve it. For how any of this applies to a specific transaction, ask a qualified scholar.
The fifteen themes
Deception, concealment and fake bidding
Hiding the wet grain under the dry, and bidding on your own goods to pull the price up.
12 narrations
Riba: interest and unequal exchange
Like for like, hand to hand — and a curse that falls equally on the scribe and the witnesses.
14 narrations
Exchanging currency and commodities
Gold for gold, silver for silver — settled in the same sitting, not left open.
10 narrations
Gharar: unknown goods and unclear terms
You cannot sell what neither side can describe — the touch, the toss, the throw of a stone.
13 narrations
Market conduct, hoarding and prices
Do not intercept the caravan, do not hoard for a rise — and the Prophet ﷺ declined to fix prices.
14 narrations
Possession, measure and weight
Do not sell it on before you have taken delivery of it.
12 narrations
Oaths, claims and the language of selling
'This market is filled with idle talk and oaths' — so mix your trade with charity and truth.
11 narrations
Debt, credit and repayment
Delay by someone who can pay is injustice; the best of you are best in repaying.
15 narrations
Wages and the rights of workers
Give the worker his wage before his sweat dries.
11 narrations
Partnership and shared property
'I am the third of two partners, so long as neither betrays the other.'
9 narrations
Forward contracts and paying in advance
Pay in advance if you must — but for a known measure, a known weight, and a known date.
10 narrations
Lawful earnings and forbidden trade
No one has eaten better than what he earned by the work of his own hand.
13 narrations
Liability, guarantees and returns
'Profit follows responsibility' — and a tied udder buys the customer three days.
12 narrations
Leniency, generosity and the rights of others
Mercy on the one who is easy when he sells, easy when he buys, easy when he asks for what he is owed.
13 narrations
Where these come from
Sahih al-Bukhari62
Sahih Muslim36
Sunan an-Nasa'i28
Sunan Abi Dawud21
Jami' at-Tirmidhi16
Muwatta Malik10
Sunan Ibn Majah9
Arabic text and English translations via the sunnah.com corpus.
About this library
- Is this every hadith about business?
- No, and no compilation honestly can be. Narrations bearing on trade are scattered through every book of every collection — truthfulness in the Book of Faith, wealth in the Book of Softening the Hearts. What this is: a curated selection from the dedicated commerce books of the seven major collections, which together hold roughly 1,800 narrations.
- Why do some narrations show 'Daif' (weak)?
- Because they are, according to the scholar named beside the grading — and hiding that would be the dishonest choice. The best-known hadith on trade, placing the honest merchant with the prophets and the martyrs, is graded weak by al-Albani and acceptable by others. It is included with every grading shown, so you can see the disagreement rather than inherit our resolution of it.
- Can I take a ruling from this page?
- No. This is a reference compilation. A narration is not a ruling on its own — scholars weigh it against the Qur'an, against other narrations, and against the specifics of the transaction in front of them. For a real question about a real deal, ask a qualified scholar.
- Where does the text come from?
- The Arabic text and the published English translations come from the sunnah.com corpus, along with the reference numbers and the per-scholar gradings. Every narration links back to its page there so you can check us. We do not edit, paraphrase or abridge a narration.