3465 — “Whoever intercedes for his brother and is then given a gift on account of it, which he accepts, has entered one of the great gates of ribā.”

Abu Dawud (3541) transmitted it through the route of Umar ibn Malik, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Ja'far, from Khalid ibn Abi Imran, from al-Qasim, from Abu Umamah, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said ... and he mentioned it.

I say: This is a good chain of transmission. All its narrators are trustworthy and are among Muslim’s narrators, apart from al-Qasim—namely, Ibn Abd al-Rahman Abu Abd al-Rahman, the companion of Abu Umamah. His hadith are good, as the view of the hadith masters ultimately settled, despite the well-known earlier disagreement concerning him. For this reason, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, cited it as an established fact in some of his writings. See, for example, Majmu' al-Fatawa (31/286).

Ibn Lahi'ah corroborated Umar ibn Malik, narrating: Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Ja'far narrated to us through the same chain.

Ahmad recorded it (5/261).

Ubayd Allah ibn Zahr corroborated Ibn Abi Ja'far, from Ali ibn Yazid, from al-Qasim, through the same chain.

Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (8/251/7853 and 283/7928), and al-Shajari transmitted it from him in al-Amali (2/236).

Abu Dawud gave the hadith the following chapter heading:

“Chapter: Gifts for fulfilling a need.”

Accordingly, I say: This need is one which the intercessor is obliged to fulfil for his brother—for example, interceding for him with a judge to lift an injustice from him, or to secure for him his due right, and the like. Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, discussed this at length in the place indicated above; whoever wishes may refer to it.

It may occur to some that this hadith conflicts with his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Whoever does you