(125) On the authority of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) prayed: "May Allah have mercy upon the man who is generous while selling, and also generous in buying and demanding his balance from people".

(Bukhari)

(126) On the authority of Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) said: "The truthful and honest merchant shall be with the prophets, with the standard bearers of truth and with the martyrs."

(Tirmizi)

Note: "Bearers of truth" refers to the very devout believers.

(127) On the authority of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) said: "A man should not enter into a bargain when his brother has already completed the bargain, and he should not make a proposal of marriage in opposition to the proposal of his brother except with his consent."

(Bukhari and Muslim)

Note 1: "Brother" refers to fellow man.

Note 2: The main point of this Hadith is that people should honor their contracts. If a person makes a business deal, someone else should not interfere. If two people are planning to be married, someone else should not try to break them up.

(128) On the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) said: "When a man goes bankrupt then the one to whom he owes has priority to claim goods still in his possession." (Bukhari and Muslim)

(129) On the authority of Abu-Yusr (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) saying: "He who allows enough time to the poor man (debtor) to repay his debt or relieves him of debt, will be protected by Allah's shade on the Day of Judgement." (Muslim)

(130) On the authority of Wathilah bin Al-Asqa' (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) saying: "He who knowingly sells a defective thing and does not inform the purchaser of its defect, will always remain under the anger of Allah; or (the reporter thinks that the Prophet said): the angels will curse him incessantly."

(Ibn Majah)

Note: Incessantly means forever.

(131) On the authority of Abu Mas'ud Al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) said: "A man from among those who were before your time was called to account on the Day of Judgement. This man was a rich merchant. Nothing good was found of him except that he used to have dealings with people, he would order his servants to let off the poor man (debtor) from repaying his debt. Allah said: We are worthier than you of that. Let him off."

(Bukhari, Muslim, and an-Nasa'i)

Note: This Hadith tells us about a man who was born and lived before the time of the Prophet Muhammad ---- When he went to account on the Day of Judgement, the only good thing he had done in his life was to be very fair with the people who owed him money. He was very understanding and always gave people adequate time to repay their debts; he instructed his employees to follow this practice also. On the Day of Judgement, God told this man, "I an closer to the people than you." And since the man had been so fair to the people who owed him money, God sent the man to Paradise.

(132) On the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) happened to pass by a heap of food. He (the Prophet) inserted his hand into it and his fingers were moistened by wet food. Upon this he (the Prophet) said: "Owner of the food, what is this?" The man replied: Messenger of Allah, it is due to rain. He (the Prophet) said: "Why did you not put the drenched food upon the heap, so that people could see it? He who deceives people, does not belong to me (my Ummah)."

(Muslim)

Note 1: "Heap" is a mound or a large quantity.

Note 2: This Hadith refers to the time the Prophet Muhammad --- went to the market and encountered a merchant who was selling food. The merchant had put good food on top of the food that had been ruined by rain, therefore deceiving the people into thinking it was all good food. The Prophet --- discovered this deception when he put his fingers into the mound of food the merchant was offering for sale. The Prophet Muhammad --- asked the merchant why he was attempting to deceive the people, and then told him that a person who cheats on business transactions or anything else could not be considered a devout Muslim, for his faith is not complete.