and you offered one hundred and ten, even though from the start you had no intention of buying it; you simply thought the item was under-priced and kept bidding until the price reached a point that no longer interested you, and then you stopped—there is no sin in this. But if your purpose is to wrong the buyer, to distress him and force the price up, that is najash and is forbidden.

The same applies if you raise the price solely to benefit the seller—while he does not know the buyer and you have no prior dealing with him—you just want the seller to gain, so you say, for instance, “One hundred and ten,” when the item is worth one hundred. You do not intend to harm the buyer, for you do not even know him; you only want to favor the seller. This too is unlawful and falls under the najash that the Prophet ﷺ prohibited. Likewise, if you aim at both objectives—helping the seller and hurting the buyer—the act is equally forbidden; it is the very najash outlawed by the Messenger ﷺ.

“Do not turn your backs on one another”: this has already been explained.

“Do not sever your ties”: meaning that a person must not cut off his brother but should keep in touch with him in a manner customary for the relationship and for the reason that calls for it. You maintain contact with a relative because of kinship, with a neighbor because of neighborhood, with a companion because of companionship, and so forth. Therefore, do not cut off your brother; keep up the connection, for Allah loves those who maintain the bonds of kinship.

It is not lawful for anyone to shun his brother for more than three days. Boycotting is a form of cutting off—meeting him and withholding the greeting of peace—and this is categorically forbidden. The Lawgiver, the Prophet ﷺ, has only allowed a concession of three days because a person may harbor something in his heart that he cannot at once overlook