Market Imperfections

Yahya narrated that Sa‘id b. al Mussayab said that Ma‘mar (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah’s Messenger (Sall Allah-o-alaihe wa sallam) as saying: “He, who hoards is a sinner.” It was said to Sa‘id (b. al-Musayyib): “You also hoard.” Sa‘id said: “Ma‘mar, who narrated this hadith also hoarded. [1]

Ma‘mar b. ‘Abdullah reported Allah’s Messenger (Sall Allah-o-alaihe wa sallam) as saying: “No one hoards but the sinner.”

[1[ All hoarders are not sinners. The hoarder in fact creates time utility and contributes to production, i.e. he stores goods in period of plenty and sells them when there is comparatively more demand for them and as such he is entitled to a share in production, for he preserves goods for a certain period and helps in maintaining the constant flow of their supply in the market. That hoarder is condemned as a sinner who withholds goods in the market from a genuine con­sumer for the purpose of creating artificial scarcity and then takes undue advantage of the helplessness of the people. (A. H. Siddiqui)

Source: Economic Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): A Select Anthology of Hadith Literature on Economics, Muhammad Akram Khan. Republished with permission.