539. He gives ten causes that can save oneself from the evil of hasad. (cont.)

Others say that if the one who bid up the price was the seller or someone working in concert with the seller, then the sale is null and void. This is because one of the parties of the transaction himself was involved in the illegal act. However, if a third party independently drove up the price, then the sale is not nullified. This is one opinion that has been attributed to al-Shafi'ee. Again, as long as the seller was not among the guilty parties, there is no problem with the sale itself. The majority of the jurists are of the opinion that the sale is valid regardless of whether the price was artificially bid up and regardless of who bid up the price. This opinion has been attributed to Abu Hanifah, Malik, al­ Shafi 'ee (a second attribution) and Ahmad. In other words, although the one who artificially drove up the price is a sinnerbe he the seller, one working 1 Cf., ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 262. 2 Quoted in ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 263. Hadith #35: "Do not be envious of one another. . . " for the seller or a completely independent third partythe sale is still valid and enforceable. The argument of these scholars is that as long as the essential aspects of a business transaction are met and the necessary qualities of the transaction are not violated, the transaction is going to be a valid transaction. In other words, if a problem occurs with an aspect that is not essential to the transaction itself, which is the case here where a third party drives up the price but the buyer still accepted the higher price, the transaction is not considered null and void-- even if something improper took place. 1 However, Ahmad and Malik give the buyer the opportunity to cancel the transaction if he was not aware of what was going on and if the increase in the price was a relatively great one. Malik and some of the followers of Ahmad set such a limit at one-third of the price. If the price had been driven up by 33%, the buyer has the right to cancel the transaction or, if he wishes, he may keep what he purchased. 2 Ibn Uthaimeen states that there are three cases wherein one bids up the price of something. The first case is the prohibited case of najash, where one bids up the price although he has no intention to actually buy the item. The second case is where the person feels that something is being sold at a cheap price and he is willing to buy it for more than that. Therefore, he gives a higher bid. However, if the bidding continues and goes above what he would be interested in paying for the item, he stops his bidding. There is nothing wrong with this type of action. The third case is where he has an overriding interest in buying the item and, therefore, he continues to bid up the price until he outbids everyone else and buys the item. There is nothing wrong with this type of behavior either. 3 A Second Interpretation A second interpretation for this statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is a much more general interpretation, not restricted to artificially increasing the price in a business sale. Lexically speaking, the root of the word najash implies, "he concealed himself' as in hunting game.4 In fact, it is from that root that the above artificial or deceitful increase of prices is called najash. In this general understanding, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was saying, "Do not cheat, plot against or deceive one another." In other words, one should not try to bring about, through underhanded or deceptive means, any kind of harm to another Muslim. This includes every type of business transaction in which the seller knows that the buyer is going to be harmed or is 1 Cf., al-Haitami, Fath, p. 250. 2 Cf., ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 2, pp. 263-264. 3 Cf., ibn Uthaimeen, Sharh Riyaadh, vol. 4, pp. 708-709. 4 Cf., Lane, vol. 2, p. 277 1 . Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi being deceived in some manner. This kind of behavior is not allowed in general but it is particularly not allowed when dealing with one's brother Muslim.1 "Do not hate one another" Muslims are prohibited from hating each other for any sake other than for the sake of Allah. Muslims are not allowed to hate each other simply due to their own personal desires. A Muslim also cannot hate another Muslim simply because he is from a particular country or his skin is of a particular color and so forth. All of that type of hatred is forbidden and goes against the brotherhood that Allah wants from His servants. Brothers should love each other and not hate each other.