Praise be to Allaah.
Hoarding is haraam,
as is indicated by
the report narrated
by Muslim in his
Saheeh from ‘Amr
ibn ‘Abd-Allaah
(may Allaah be
pleased with him)
who said: The
Messenger of
Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said:
“No one hoards but
one who is in
error.”
Al-Nawawi (may
Allaah have mercy
on him) said: The
scholars of Arabic
language stated that
the word
khaati’ (translated
here as ‘the one
who is in error’)
means one who is
disobedient and a
sinner, and this
hadeeth clearly
indicates that
hoarding is haraam.
End quote.
Islam forbids
hoarding because of
the harm that it
causes to people.
The scholars
differed as to what
is included in
hoarding. Some of
them said that it
refers only to food.
Some said that it
applies to
everything that
people need and will
be harmed if it is
withheld. This is the
view of the Maalikis
and was narrated in
one report from
Ahmad. This is the
correct view which
is in accordance
with the apparent
meaning of the
ahaadeeth.
Al-Shawkaani (may
Allaah have mercy
on him) said in Nayl
al-Awtaar (5/262):
The apparent
meaning of the
ahaadeeth is that
hoarding is haraam
without
distinguishing
between food for
humans and
animals, and other
things. The fact that
the word food is
specifically
mentioned in some
reports cannot be
taken as specifying
the general meaning
of the other reports
which speak of
hoarding in general,
rather it is
mentioned by way
of example. End
quote.
Al-Ramli al-Shaafa’i
said in his
commentary on
Asna al-Mataalib
(2/39): They should
apply it to
everything that is
usually needed of
food and clothing.
End quote.
This is in
accordance with the
reason for which
hoarding is
forbidden, which is
to prevent harm
being done to the
people. This was
also the view of the
Standing
Committee, as they
stated in their fatwa
no. 6374: It is not
permissible to stock
up anything that the
people need, which
is called hoarding,
because the
Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said:
“No one hoards but
one who is in error.”
Narrated by Ahmad,
Muslim, Abu
Dawood, al-Nasaa’i
and Ibn Maajah. And
because that
causes hardship to
the people.
But if the people are
not in need of it, it is
permissible to stock
it up until it is
needed, then it may
be sold to them, so
as to ward off harm
and hardship from
them. End quote.