The Etiquette of Trade

840. Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade a townsman selling on behalf of a man of the desert, even if it was his full brother.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Buyu, 58; Sahih Muslim, Buyu, 21).
Annotation: The Messenger of Allah wished to prevent middlemen from deceiving producers about the market price and from stockpiling goods for speculative purposes. In addition, middlemen do not actually produce anything and their intervention increases the cost. Apart from such cases, if somebody helps farmers or other producers about how they can sell their goods in the best way without aiming to gain money, there is nothing wrong in it.

841. Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade a townsman to sell on behalf of a man of the desert, people bidding against each other, outbidding each other in order to raise the price, a man to sell against the sale of his brother or to make a marriage proposal in the face of his brother’s proposal, and a woman to ask for her sister to be divorced in order to take her place.
In one variant, he said, “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade meeting caravans, a Muhajir selling on behalf of a Bedouin, a woman making it a precondition that her sister be divorced and a man making a bogus bid against the bid of his brother, and he forbade outbidding in order to raise the price and leaving animals unmilked.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Buyu, 64; Sahih Muslim, Buyu, 11).
Annotation: Do not make a bogus bid in order to increase the price or to urge potential buyers into buying what you wish to sell. If two sides make a deal for a commercial exchange, it is not proper for a third party to attempt to change their minds with new offers. However, there is nothing wrong in auction sale. If two sides agree for a marriage and set a certain amount for mahr, no decent person should come up with new proposals to spoil the engagement. Let no chaste women attempt to spoil any other marriages and demand a certain man to divorce his wife in order to marry her.

 

Nawawi, Imam. Riyad As-Salihin; The Gardens of the Righteous: A collection of authentic hadiths. Tughra Books Press, Inc. 2014