Chapter: Tricks by an official person to obtain presents

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) appointed a man called Ibn Al-Lutabiyya to collect the Zakat from Bani Sulaim's tribe. When he returned, the Prophet (ﷺ) called him to account. He said (to the Prophet, 'This is your money, and this has been given to me as a gift." On that, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Why didn't you stay in your father's and mother's house to see whether you will be given gifts or not if you are telling the truth?" Then the Prophet (ﷺ) addressed us, and after praising and glorifying Allah, he said: "Amma Ba'du", I employ a man from among you to manage some affair of what Allah has put under my custody, and then he comes to me and says, 'This is your money and this has been given to me as a gift. Why didn't he stay in his father's and mother's home to see whether he will be given gifts or not? By Allah, not anyone of you takes a thing unlawfully but he will meet Allah on the Day of Resurrection, carrying that thing. I do not want to see any of you carrying a grunting camel or a mooing cow or a bleating sheep on meeting Allah." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) raised both his hands till the whiteness of his armpits became visible, and he said, "O Allah! Haven't I have conveyed (Your Message)?" The narrator added: My eyes witnessed and my ears heard (that Hadith).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The neighbor has more right to be taken care of by his neighbor (than anyone else)." Some men said, "If one wants to buy a house for 20,000 Dirhams then there is no harm to play a trick to deprive somebody of preemption by buying it (just on paper) with 20,000 Dirhams but paying to the seller only 9,999 Dirhams in cash and then agree with the seller to pay only one Dinar in cash for the rest of the price (i.e. 10,001 Dirhams). If the preemptor offers 20,000 Dirhams for the house, he can buy it otherwise he has no right to buy it (by this trick he got out of preemption). If the house proves to belong to somebody else other than the seller, the buyer should take back from the seller what he has paid, i.e., 9,999 Dirhams and one Dinar, because if the house proves to belong to somebody else, so the whole bargain (deal) is unlawful. If the buyer finds a defect in the house and it does not belong to somebody other than the seller, the buyer may return it and receive 20,000 Dirhams (instead of 9999 Dirham plus one Dinar) which he actually paid.' Abu `Abdullah said, "So that man allows (some people) the playing of tricks amongst the Muslims (although) the Prophet (ﷺ) said, 'In dealing with Muslims one should not sell them sick (animals) or bad things or stolen things."

Abu Rafi` sold a house to Sa`d bin Malik for four-hundred Mithqal of gold, and said, "If I had not heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, 'The neighbor has more right to be taken care of by his neighbor (than anyone else),' then I would not have sold it to you."