Azami 5724

It was narrated by Ibn Abu Khaythama in Tarikh al-Kabir (3444), by Tabarani in Kabir (19/268-269), and by Hakim (19/2), all of them through the route of Atiq bin Yaqub Zubayri, who said, Abdul-Aziz bin Muhammad narrated to us, Ibrahim bin Tahman narrated to me, from Abu Zubayr Makki, who said, I heard Abu Usayd Saadi and Ibn Abbas giving a legal ruling, and he mentioned it. Hakim said, "Sahih according to the criterion of Muslim, though the two of them did not narrate it in this wording, and Atiq bin Yaqub was a Qurashi elder from the people of Madinah."Its chain of transmission is hasan because of Abu Zubayr Makki, for his hadith is hasan. Haythami also graded it hasan in Majmaa (4/114).Abu Usayd is well known by his kunya, which is in the diminutive form. His name was Malik bin Rabia Khazraji Ansari Saadi. He was present at Badr, Uhud, and the battles after them, and he carried the banner of Banu Saadah on the day of the Conquest. He was the last of the participants of Badr to die, dying in the year sixty at the age of eighty, though other accounts are given as well.When the hadith of Abu Saeed Khudri, Ubada bin Samit, Abu Usayd Saadi, and others reached Ibn Abbas, he retracted the ruling he had previously given.This was also narrated by Hazimi in his book Itibar fi Nasikh wal-Mansukh min Athar (pp. 166-167), from Abu Saeed Raqashi, who said, Ikrima, the freed slave of Ibn Abbas, came to Basra, and we sat with him in the main masjid. He said, "Why do you not restrain this elder of yours" meaning Hasan bin Abu Hasan "who claims that whatever the Muslims trade hand to hand, silver for silver, gold for gold, with an increase in it, is forbidden, while I testify that Ibn Abbas permitted it."Abu Saeed Raqashi said, I said, "Woe to you! Do you not know that I was sitting by his head while you were at his feet? A man came to him and said, 'At your service.' I said, 'What do you need?' He said, 'I wanted to ask Ibn Abbas about gold for gold.' I said, 'Go ahead, for he holds that there is no harm in it.' So he uncovered his turban from his face, then Ibn Abbas sat up and said, 'I seek Allah's forgiveness. By Allah, I used not to consider anything that the Muslims traded hand to hand as anything but lawful, until I heard Abdullah bin Umar and Umar bin Khattab relate from the Messenger of Allah something that I had not retained, so I seek Allah's forgiveness.'"As for what was narrated from Saeed bin Jubayr, that he did not retract his position on currency exchange until he died, this is daif and contradicts what has been established about his retraction on the matter, so it should not be given any weight.As for the hadith of Usama, "There is no riba except in deferred payment," even after establishing the soundness of its chain of transmission back to the Messenger of Allah , since it is found in the Sahihayn, it still requires interpretation, because the Muslims have unanimously agreed to set aside acting upon its apparent meaning.Among the various interpretations offered is that of Imam Shafii, who said, it may be that Usama bin Zayd heard the Messenger of Allah being asked about two different types, such as gold for silver, or dates for wheat, or any case where the categories differ with an unequal exchange hand to hand, and he said, "Riba is only in deferred payment." Or it may be that the question preceded this remark and he caught the answer without retaining the question, or he was uncertain about it. See Itibar fi Nasikh wal-Mansukh min Athar (p. 166).Another interpretation is that the hadith of Usama is general in wording, while the hadith of Ubada bin Samit, Abu Saeed Khudri, and others is explicit, so the explicit must be acted upon, and the general must be understood in light of it. This too is the answer given by Imam Shafii, may Allah have mercy on him. See Nawawi's commentary on Muslim (11/25).There are further details on this subject, which I have mentioned in Kitab Madkhal ila Sunan al-Kubra (4/1-9), and likewise in Minna Kubra (5/41-59), where I have set out a great many details concerning riba.