This increases its price. Such conduct is deceptive, because he has made the item for sale appear desirable when it is in fact devoid of that quality.

If someone were to ask: How can a mill have water when it is meant to grind flour? Would this not mean that the flour becomes dough?

We reply: A wheel—that is, a pulley—fitted with paddles is placed where the water strikes it, causing it to turn. This wheel is then connected by a belt to the mill, which is located away from the water, and this belt turns the distant mill. In some respects, it resembles the chain of a bicycle. The onlooker therefore assumes that this is its water supply and that this is its power, and so increases his offer for it.

The author’s restriction—may Allah have mercy on him—to these three examples—dyeing a female slave’s hair black, curling it, and collecting the mill’s water and releasing it when displaying it for sale—does not mean that deception is established only in these cases. Rather, these are merely examples.

The governing principle is what we have mentioned: making an item for sale appear to possess a desirable quality when it is devoid of it. Examples include retaining milk in the udder of a grazing animal—that is, gathering the milk in the animal’s udder. This is unlawful. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Do not retain the milk in the udders of camels and sheep.” A person ties the animal’s udder, so the milk accumulates in it. When he brings it to the market and the buyer sees it, he assumes that this is its usual state and that it produces abundant milk, and he therefore increases the price he offers for it. If the seller does this—that is, commits this deception—we say: as for retaining the milk in the udder, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ruled concerning it by the judgment of Allah, the Most High. He said: “Whoever purchases it thereafter”—that is, after the milk has been retained—“then he …”