In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Blessings and peace be upon the noblest of the Prophets and Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and Companions.
This is a summary of what was covered in this part of the explanation of Imam al-Shafi’i’s al-Risalah, focusing on the important points and clarifications:
Clarifications on measured and weighed commodities, genus and type, and the issue of blood money:
The speaker gives important clarifications on the terms “measured by volume” (makil) and “weighed” (mawzun), and on the difference between genus (jins) and type (sinf), then addresses the issue of blood money (diyat) in Islamic law.
- Measured and weighed commodities:
- Al-makil (measured by volume): relates to volume and is measured by the kaylah (the measuring unit of the people of Madinah, about 12 kilograms); it is associated with the people of Madinah because they were people of agriculture.
- Al-mawzun (weighed): relates to quantity or price and is weighed against gold and silver (currency); it is associated with the people of Makkah because they were people of trade.
- Genus and type:
- Genus (jins): such as the measured and the weighed (comparable to humans and jinn).
- Type (sinf): kinds under a single genus (such as the kinds of grain under the genus of the measured: rice, barley, burr, qamh, and hintah). There are fine differences between qamh and hintah.
- Joining some drinks to foods: Some drinks are joined to foods because they are “tasted” (perceived by the tongue). Example: water being called food in some texts.
- Calling water and dates “the two black ones” (al-aswadan): because dates (the better known of the two) are predominantly black.
- Calling Abu Bakr and ‘Umar “the two ‘Umars” (al-‘Umaran): because of ‘Umar’s fame and the abundance of his deeds.
- The explanatory table (genus, type, ruling):
- Buying a type from a genus with the same type from the same genus (e.g., gold for gold): inequality and deferment (nasa’) are forbidden; equality and taking possession in the same session are obligatory.
- Buying a type from a genus with another type from the same genus (e.g., wheat for barley): inequality is permitted, but deferment is forbidden.
- Buying something outside these genera (e.g., eggs, perfumes): falls outside these rulings.
- The issue of commodities that do not fall within the ribawi commodities: There is considerable dispute about it.
- Discussion of al-Shafi’i’s words: A discussion about analogizing the measured to the weighed, showing that the Muslims’ permitting the sale of measured goods for weighed goods, whether in cash or on deferment, indicates that this analogy is not valid.
- Example: buying a mudd of wheat for three ratls of oil on deferment: This is not permissible with inequality (because they are of the same genus). If the sale were for gold or silver, inequality and deferment would be permitted (because the genera differ).
- Dinars and dirhams: They are forbidden [from unequal or deferred exchange] in themselves (ribawi commodities), and food is not analogized to them.
- The difference between the measured and the weighed: The measured is forbidden in itself because it is measured, and the weighed is forbidden in itself because it is weighed, and each is extended by analogy to what falls within its meaning.
- Buying measured or weighed food with dirhams and dinars on deferment: permissible.
- The zakah of gold, silver, and currencies: It is paid every year.
- The zakah of crops: It is paid once at harvest and is not paid again if they remain for a long time, because they are subject to diminution and spoilage (this is a matter of consensus, from which al-Hasan al-Basri dissented).
- Valuing consumed goods: This goes back to custom, except for blood money.
- The issue of blood money:
- Kinds of killing: intentional, quasi-intentional (an error resembling intent), and pure error.
- The hadith “The one killed by quasi-intentional error… one hundred camels”: The blood money for quasi-intentional killing is one hundred camels with specified characteristics (forty pregnant she-camels, thirty hiqqah, and thirty jadha’ah).
- The ‘aqilah: the offender’s blood relatives (paternal uncles and brothers). They are so called because they would tie (ya’qilun) the camels in the courtyard of the slain person’s heirs.
- Paying the blood money: It falls on the ‘aqilah over three years; the wealthy and those of middling means share in it, and the poor are exempt.
- Blood money is tied to the ages of camels: It may not be assessed in monetary value except when it is difficult to obtain camels with the required characteristics.
- Conclusion: There is a distinction between the measured and the weighed; one type is not analogized to another except with [legal] permission; and the ruling is by the Shariah, not by custom, except where the Shariah has permitted it.
Some additional benefits:
- Clarifying the difference between the measured and the weighed.
- Clarifying the difference between genus and type.
- Explaining the issue of joining some drinks to foods.
- Clarifying why water and dates are called “the two black ones,” and Abu Bakr and ‘Umar “the two ‘Umars.”
- Explaining the rulings on selling ribawi commodities.
- Explaining the rulings on the zakah of gold, silver, and crops.
- Explaining the kinds of killing and the rulings on blood money and the ‘aqilah.
Remarks on some points:
- It was clarified that the measured relates to volume and is associated with the people of Madinah, while the weighed relates to price and is associated with the people of Makkah.
- The difference between genus and type was explained in detail.
- It was clarified that in buying a type from a genus with the same type from the same genus, inequality and deferment are forbidden, whereas in buying a type from a genus with another type from the same genus, inequality is permitted and deferment is forbidden.
- The kinds of killing and the rulings on blood money and the ‘aqilah were explained in detail.
We ask Allah the Exalted to grant us success in understanding His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ, and to make us among those who follow them.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Risala by Shaykh Dr. Ahmad al-Naqeeb