Chapter: Selling Non-Edible, Non-Potable Merchandise One for Another

There is no objection to bartering or selling any merchandise that is neither eaten nor drunk—one item for another—as the two parties wish, provided the exchange is hand-to-hand. This applies to slaves, any useful livestock, garments, flax, wool, silk, copper, cotton, brass, precious stones, hides, lead, iron, real estate in all its forms, and every other article that is not consumed as food or drink, whether the kinds involved are identical or different, and whether the items are sold by measure, by weight, or by count. Whatever the category, it is permissible to trade one kind for the same kind in unequal amounts, in whatever manner the parties choose, so long as delivery is immediate.

Likewise, it is permissible to exchange immediate merchandise for deferred merchandise, whether of the same kind or a different kind, so long as their difference is evident—two for one, for example—in any manner, whether measured by weight, volume, or number, provided their purposes and benefits diverge. A mere difference in genera poses no problem: with riding beasts, what matters is their beauty, speed, and pedigree rather than the sameness of species; with slaves, it is their craftsmanship, usefulness, and eloquence, not their kind.

However, if merchandise is sold for its like from the very same genus on credit with any extra amount stipulated, Mālik and his companions consider this usury (ribā), because the excess in a deferred exchange constitutes ribā in a loan, as we mentioned at the beginning of this book. They have unanimously agreed that if someone lends a garment—or anything else—to another person and stipulates that, after a time, he return two garments of the same genus, or one similar garment plus something extra, that is ribā by consensus. In Mālik’s view, such an arrangement is tantamount to giving one garment for two of the same genus and description on credit under the guise of a sale.