ابن ماجہ · Hadith 2193

It was narrated from' Amr bin Shu' aib, from his father, from his grandfather that the Prophet P.B.U.H forbade the deal involving earnest money. (Hasan) Abu 'Abdullah said. Earnest-money refers to when a man buys an animal for one hundred Dinar, then he gives the seller two Dinar in advance and says: "If I do not buy the animal, then the two Dinar are yours." And it was said that it refers, and Allah knows best, to when a man buys something, and gives the seller a Dirham or less or more, and says: "If I take it (all well and good), and if I do not, then the Dirham is yours."And it was said that it refers, and Allah knows best, to when a man buys something, and gives the seller a Dirham or less or more, and says: “If I take it (all well and good), and if I do not, then the Dirham is yours.”

Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020