بَابُ الاحتكارHoarding

¹ The statement: “Whoever hoards is a sinner”: There are hadiths in this chapter that support each other. The apparent meaning of the hadiths suggests that hoarding is prohibited, without distinction between human or animal sustenance. In An-Nihayah, regarding “Whoever hoards food”: It means he buys and holds it to reduce supply and raise prices. The hadiths prohibiting hoarding are both general and specific to food. For hadiths of this style, the majority hold that the general is not restricted by the specific, implying the general applies generally and is not limited to sustenance. However, the majority agree that prohibited hoarding pertains to human and animal sustenance. This is summarized from Nail Al-Awtar and Subul As-Salam. For this reason, it is stated in Ad-Durr Al-Mukhtar: Hoarding human sustenance like figs, grapes, or almonds, or animal sustenance like straw, is disliked in a place where it harms people, based on the hadith: “The importer is provided for, and the hoarder is cursed.” If it does not harm, it is not disliked. In Radd Al-Muhtar, it is stated: Restricting it to human sustenance is the view of Abu Hanifah and Muhammad, and the fatwa aligns with it, as stated in Al-Kafi. Abu Yusuf said: Anything that harms the public by being withheld is hoarding. Muhammad said hoarding applies to clothing. Abu Yusuf considered the reality of harm, as it is the basis for the dislike. Abu Hanifah considered customary, recognized harm. This is stated in Al-Hidayah. In Rahmat Al-Ummah, it is stated: Hoarding sustenance is unanimously forbidden, which is buying food during high prices and holding it to increase its price. ² The statement: “Narrated by Muslim”: Abu Dawud narrated something similar, and Muhammad ibn ‘Amr, the narrator, said: I said to Sa‘id ibn Al-Musayyib: You hoard. Sa‘id said to Muhammad ibn ‘Amr: Ma‘mar, my teacher in this hadith, used to hoard. They both hoarded date pits and leaves. The point is that the general hoarding in the hadith refers to the specific, which is hoarding food. Abu Dawud said: I asked Ahmad: What is hoarding? He said: What people live on, which is food and sustenance. Abu Dawud said: Al-Awza‘i said: The hoarder intercepts the market, intending to buy food and sustenance to withhold it and sell it during high prices. If he imports from another city and withholds it, he is not a hoarder. Al-Khattabi said: The statement “Ma‘mar used to hoard” indicates that the prohibited type is specific, not general. It is not conceivable for Sa‘id ibn Al-Musayyib, given his virtue and knowledge, to narrate a hadith from the Prophet (ﷺ) and openly contradict it, let alone a Companion, who is even less likely to do so. This is stated in Badhl Al-Majhud. In Ad-Durr Al-Mukhtar, it is stated: One is not a hoarder by withholding the yield of his land, without disagreement.

¹ The statement: “Whoever hoards food for forty days”: If the period is short, it is not hoarding due to lack of harm. If it is long, it is disliked hoarding due to evident harm. Some said it extends to forty days based on this hadith. Some of our scholars said it is limited to a month and did not consider the hadith’s specification binding, as the reason for prohibiting hoarding is harm, which occurs with a long period, not a short one. Less than a month is short. The degree of sin varies between awaiting scarcity and awaiting high prices. The sin of awaiting scarcity is greater than awaiting high prices. This specification applies to worldly transactions like sale or penalty, not to the sin, which occurs even with a short period. This is derived from Al-Hidayah, Ghayat Al-Bayan, and Radd Al-Muhtar.

¹ The statement: “Allah is the One who sets prices”: Meaning, a ruler does not set prices, indicating it is disliked, as stated in Al-Multaqa and other sources. This is stated in Radd Al-Muhtar.