676 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade the pebble-throw sale and every sale that entails gharar (uncertainty).” Related by Muslim (1).

Vocabulary of the ḥadith
• Bayʿ al-ḥaṣāh (the pebble-throw sale): ḥaṣāh is the singular of “pebbles.” The phrase is an annexation of the verbal noun to its type, not to its object. Its procedure is for the seller to say to the buyer, “Cast this pebble; whichever garment it lands on is yours for such-and-such a price,” or to sell him from his land whatever distance the pebble reaches when thrown.
• Al-gharār: with two short vowels; likewise an annexation of the verbal noun to its type. Derived from gharra, yaghirru (to endanger), it means “risk.” Ibn ʿArafah defined a gharar sale as one whose outward form allures while its essence is unknown, making its outcome uncertain. That uncertainty may stem from non-existence, as in selling ḥabl al-ḥablah, from inability to deliver, as with a stray camel, from absolute ambiguity, or from a specific item whose measure, genus, or attributes are unknown. Gharar therefore gathers many kinds of hazards. At root the word denotes deficiency: the Arabs say ghārat al-nāqah when a she-camel’s milk diminishes, and ghārat al-biʾr when a well’s water runs low.

Points derived from the ḥadith

1. The hadith prohibits the pebble-throw sale, which means it is unlawful and invalid.
2. In the pre-Islamic period the Arabs practised several sales in their markets that usually cheated either seller or buyer. Islam forbade them, among them the pebble-throw sale, which appears in several forms, such as: