recognize it when there has been no underpayment. Mālik, Ahmad and others hold that a buyer who does not bargain has the right to rescind a sale if overcharged. Market traders may not sell to someone who bargains at one price, then charge a higher price to someone who does not bargain or does not know the market price. This is among the practices for which sellers must be reproved.

It is reported in a hadith:

“Overcharging someone who does not bargain is usury.”

This is comparable to intercepting goods before they reach the market, since the arriving seller does not know the market price. Likewise, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prohibited a town-dweller from selling on behalf of a Bedouin, saying:

“Leave people to trade with one another; Allah provides for some through others.”

Ibn ʿAbbās was asked: “What does his statement, ‘A town-dweller must not sell on behalf of a Bedouin,’ mean?” He replied: “He must not act as his broker.” This is prohibited because it harms buyers. When a resident acts as an agent for an arriving seller in selling goods that people need, while that seller does not know the market price, this harms the buyer. Thus the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Leave people to trade with one another; Allah provides for some through others.”

The same applies to hoarding goods that people need. Muslim narrated in his Sahīh, on the authority of Maʿmar ibn ʿAbd Allāh, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“None but a sinner hoards.”

A hoarder deliberately buys food that people need, then withholds it from them, seeking to raise its price against them. He thereby wrongs those who buy it. For this reason, the ruler may compel people to sell what they possess at its fair market value when people are in dire need of it—for example, someone who possesses food he does not need while the people are in