for tawliyah means that the purchaser passes the commodity on to someone else for exactly the price at which he himself bought it, and this is even more exacting than selling it at the fair market rate. Nevertheless, the purchaser cannot be forced to sell to an outsider other than his partner except for whatever price he chooses, because such a stranger’s need is not comparable to the partner’s.

Now, if it is imagined that a group of people are compelled to lodge in someone’s house, having no shelter available to them except that dwelling, he is obliged to accommodate them. Likewise, should they need him to lend them clothing to ward off the cold, or utensils with which to cook, build, or draw water, he must supply these free of charge. If they require the loan of a bucket for drawing water, a pot for cooking, or an axe for digging, is he bound to provide it at the going rental rate, without any surcharge? Within the school of Aḥmad and others there are two opinions on the matter.1

The sounder view is that he must offer such items free of charge so long as he himself has no need of the benefit or its compensation, as the Qur’an and Sunnah both indicate. Allah, the Exalted, says:
“So woe to those who pray, yet are heedless of their prayer—those who make a show, and withhold even the smallest aid.” (Al-Maʿūn 4–7)

In the Sunan collections Ibn Masʿūd said, “We used to regard ‘al-Maʿūn’ as the loan of the bucket, the pot, and the axe.”

In the two Ṣaḥīḥs the Prophet ﷺ, when mentioning horses, said: “For one man they are a source of reward, for another a protection, and for yet another a burden. As for the one for whom they are a reward, he is a man who keeps them for independence and chastity and does not neglect the right of Allah upon their necks and backs.” 2

Likewise, the two Ṣaḥīḥs relate that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Part of the right of camels is to lend their bucket and to allow their stud to serve.” 3

And it is also authentically established from him ﷺ that he