Chapter: The virtue of generosity in buying and selling, taking and giving, prompt repayment and fair litigation, giving full measure and weight, and the prohibition of shortchanging.

Allah the Exalted says, “Whatever good you do, Allah is fully aware of it.” He also says, “My people, give full measure and weight with justice and do not deprive people of their goods.” And He says, “Woe to those who give short measure: those who, when they take a measure from people, take it in full, but when they give by measure or by weight to them, cause loss. Do they not realize that they will be resurrected for a tremendous Day—the Day when all people will stand before the Lord of the worlds?”

[Explanation]

The author (may Allah have mercy on him) introduces in Riyadh al-Salihin the chapter entitled “The excellence of leniency in buying and selling.”

Buying and selling are indispensable; in most circumstances the life of the children of Adam cannot function without them. A person may need something that belongs to someone else. How can he obtain it? If he begs and says, “Give it to me,” he humiliates himself. If he borrows it, he remains uneasy. If he seizes it by force, he commits injustice. Hence, by His wisdom, Allah legislated buying and selling: I might need some money, so I sell what I own, while you need that particular item of mine, so you purchase it with your money. Trade, therefore, is necessary to meet human needs.