محمد بن يحيى أبو جعفر العطار القمي

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If inside the walls there are different fruits and certain kinds are ripe, then there is no offense in buying all of it.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘If one sells palm trees which he has pollinated, its dates belong to the seller unless the buyer stipulates otherwise. Ali (a.s.), then said that this is how the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, judged a case.’”

“I once asked abu Ja’far. ‘Alayhi al-Salam, about al-Ratbah (a grass, cattle feed) which is sold in the form of one, two or three crops. He (the Imam) said, ‘There is no offense in it.’ I asked many such questions and every time he (the Imam) said, ‘There is no offense in it. 5 I then said, ‘May Allah keep you well’ - because of feeling shy due to my numerous questions and his words, ‘There is no offense in it’- those nearby may spoil for us all of this. He (the Imam) said, ‘I think they have heard the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah about palm trees.’ At this time someone caused an interruption and I remained quiet. I then asked Muhammad ibn Muslim to ask abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about the words of the Messenger of Allah in regard to palm trees. Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, once came out and heard a great deal of noise. He (the Messenger of Allah) asked about it. It was said to him, “People buy fruits of the coming year of palm trees in exchange for dates.” The Messenger of Allah said, “If they do so they must buy the fruits of the coming year when something of such fruits appears, and they must not make it unlawful.’””

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), that I had sold palm trees each for such and such number of dirham. The palm trees had fruits on them. The buyer then sold them to another man for a certain amount of profit but he had not paid me anything and had not received any delivery from me. He (the Imam) said, Tt is not harmful. Had he not taken responsibility for payment? 5 I replied, ‘Yes, he had done so. He (the Imam) said, ‘The profit then belongs to him. 5 ”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about vines when it is permissible to sell them. He (the Imam) said, Tt is permissible when they form into vines.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a people who embark in a ship and buy food and bargain about it. Then one man buys from them. They ask him and he gives them what they ask for of food. So he who collects payment and gives them food becomes the owner of food. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful. I do not see anything else except that they were partners.’ I then said, ‘The owner of food asks a measuring person who measures for us and we have workers who examine and finds increases and decreases. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful if errors are not many.’”

“I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), that I buy food in a deal in the beginning of which I lose and in the end I gain profit. I then ask my friend to reduce a certain amount on each kur. He (the Imam) said, ‘There is nothing good in it, however, he can reduce a certain sum.’ I then asked, ‘Can he reduce more than I have lost?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’ I then asked if I can keep aside one or two kur and the man asks me to give him according to my measurement. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful if he can trust you.’”

It is not harmful.’ ‘Can he appoint the second buyer as his agent to receive delivery?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), that I may pass by a man and he speaks to me about food and says, ‘You have found the kind of foodstuff that you need.’ I then ask him to show me and I will give such and such amount of profit for each kur, but when he shows it to me, I look at it and if I need I take it, if not I leave it. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is bargaining and it is not harmful.’ I then said that I then ask him to keep aside for me fifty kur or less or more according to his measurement then it comes extra or less and mostly it is extra. To whom the extra belongs? He (the Imam) said, ‘It belongs to you.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘I once sent Mu‘attib or Salam who bought food for us and it came extra for two dinars and our family used it by the measurement that we knew.’ I then asked, ‘Did you find out who the seller was?’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘Yes, and we returned the extra to him.’ I then said, ‘May Allah be kind to you. In my case your fatwa is that the extra belongs to me and yourself return it to the seller because you knew that it belongs to him.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes; it is a mistake that people make because what we bought was for eight or nine dirham.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘In our case we, however, measured it again.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about dry dates and fresh dates exchanged in equal measures. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’ I then asked him (the Imam) about cooked juice and uncooked one exchanged in equal measures. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), if it is permissible to exchange one Qafiz (a certain unit of measurement) of wheat for two Qafiz of barley. He (the Imam) said, ‘No, it is not permissible unless they are of equal quantities.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘Barley is from wheat.’”

If he knows that at least one thing of it exists that he can have, he can buy and accept the deal with it.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about buying a hundred Rawiyah (a certain unit of measurement) of oil, then weigh one or two Rawiyah then accept the rest according to such weighing. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man to whom another man owes one hundred kur of dates and he has palm trees. He comes and says, ‘Give to me your palm trees for what you owe to me.’ It seemed as if he (the Imam) disliked it. I then asked about two men who have palm trees. One of them says to the other, ‘You can take the trees for such and such amount and give to me one-half more or less or I take the trees with the same condition. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who said to me, ‘Buy this cloth and this stumper from me, then in the form of ‘Aynah sell them to me (sell them to me and I will give you a profit of so and so amount).’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is lawful.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He should buy it but you must not make binding on him to sell before he makes it binding or you buy it.’”

“Once, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), asked me, ‘How do you make a living?’ I replied, ‘I sell foodstuff.’ He (the Imam) said to me, ‘Buy those of good quality and sell of the good quality; if you sell that of good quality it is said, “Allah places blessings in you and the one who sold to you.’””

“I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a man with whom I like to arrange an al-’Aynah. He already owes me a certain amount of goods. He asks me for additional goods. Is it right to provide him additional goods and sell to him a pearl worth a hundred dirham for a thousand dirham and I say, ‘I sell to you this pearl for a thousand dirham so I can extend the payback time for this and what you already owe to me up to so and so many months.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who asks another man for a cloth on the basis of ‘Aynah and he says, ‘I do not have it but take these dirhams and buy the cloth.’ He takes the dirhams and buys a cloth as he wants, then comes to him so that he buys it from him. He (the Imam) said, Ts it the case that if the cloth is lost it is from the assets of the one who gives dirham?’ I replied, ‘Yes, that is the case.’ He (the Imam) asked, ‘If it is possible that if he wants he buys it, if he does not want he does not buy, then it is not unlawful.’”

he heard Amir al-Mu'minin (as) say: 'After the holy Prophet people become of three kinds. One group went to a divinely well guided scholar. Allah had given him such a high degree of knowledge that made him independent of the knowledge of the others. The second group was the ignorant group, who claimed to have knowledge but in fact they had no knowledge. This was an egotist group. The worldly attractions had made them to lose sight of the truth and to mislead other people. The third group consisted of those people who learned from a divinely guided scholar who taught them for the sake of Allah and for their salvation. It then was obvious that those who claimed (to be scholars while, in fact, they were not scholars) and those who forged certain matters falsely were destroyed.'

“ Surah al-Mulk (Chapter 67) is a protector. It protects against the torment of the grave. It ( Surah al-Mulk) is written in the Torah. Whoever reads it at night has done a great good deed and with it he will not be written of the neglectful ones. I read it in Ruku’ position while, sitting after ‘Isha’ prayer. My father would read it everyday and night. When the person who reads it will be placed in the grave the interrogating angels (Na’kir and Nakir) will enter his grave from the direction of his feet. His feet will say, ‘You cannot enter from our side. This servant (of Allah) would stand on us and read Surah al-Mulk everyday and night. ’ When they try to enter his grave from the middle section his middle section will say, ‘You cannot enter from my side of the grave. This servant (of Allah) had placed Surah al-Mulk inside of me.’ When they try to enter from the side of his face his tongue will say, ‘You cannot enter from my side. This servant (of Allah) would read with me Surah al-Mulk every day and night.’”