The Lessons in the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ Buying Grain on Credit from a Jew
Yes, the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ bought some food from a Jew in Madeenah on deferred payment, with an agreed date for repayment, and he gave his iron armour as collateral.
ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها narrated:
تُوُفِّيَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَدِرْعُهُ مَرْهُونَةٌ عِنْدَ يَهُودِيٍّ بِثَلَاثِينَ صَاعًا مِنْ شَعِيرٍ
“The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ died while his armour was mortgaged to a Jew for thirty ṣāʿs of barley.”
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 2916; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 1603.
Another narration states:
اشْتَرَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ مِنْ يَهُودِيٍّ طَعَامًا بِنَسِيئَةٍ، وَرَهَنَهُ دِرْعَهُ
“The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ bought food from a Jew on deferred payment and mortgaged his armour to him.”
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 2068; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 1603.
A question arises:
Why did the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ buy the food from a Jew rather than from one of the Ṣaḥābah?
The first response: The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ did this to demonstrate the permissibility of buying goods on deferred payment from a non-Muslim. The fact that the seller was a Jew does not make the transaction impermissible. The Muslim is purchasing a lawful commodity through a lawful transaction and is not paying ribā.
(This should not, however, be confused with entering into a partnership with a non-Muslim in a business in which the non-Muslim's own business activities involve ribā. A partnership requires further consideration because the Muslim would have an ownership interest in, and potentially benefit from, impermissible transactions).
Secondly: It is possible that the particular food which the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ wanted was available with that Jew at the time, whereas it may not have been readily available from the Ṣaḥābah.
Thirdly: It is possible that the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ knew that a Ṣaḥābī, out of his great reverence and love for him, might not have been willing to take his armour as collateral, or might have been reluctant to demand payment from him at the agreed time.
See Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim by Imām an-Nawawī, 11/41–42.
This incident demonstrates, among other things, that dealing with a non-Muslim in a lawful commercial transaction is permissible, and that the Prophet ﷺ himself engaged in such transactions while maintaining the Islamic requirements governing them.
See also:
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