Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 259
259 incomplete if I fail to touch on some of the injunctions laid down by Islam relating to commerce. Islam forbids the use of false weights and measures and enjoins the giving of full measure. Traders are prohibited from selling defective articles or goods which are rotten and useless. A trader must not try to conceal the defects of an article which he offers for sale. For instance, he must not cover up wet grain with dry grain and attempt to sell it off as dry grain, or roll up that portion of a piece of cloth which may be defective and offer the whole piece for sale as if it were sound. If there is any such defect in an article the buyer should be informed of it. If such an article is sold without the buyer being informed of its true condition, he has a right to return it when he dis- covers the fault. In other cases, a transaction of sale cannot be cancelled after the goods have been delivered and the price has been paid. Again, a trader is prohibited from charging dif- ferent rates from different people. He is at liberty to fix any reasonable rate he pleases, but the rate must be the same in the case of all buyers, except when some per- sonal relationship between the seller and the buyer justifies a reduction; for instance, when the buyer is a relative, teacher, friend, neighbour or fellow trader, etc. , of the seller. In the case of sales of goods also Islam requires that the transaction should either be evidenced by writing or by witnesses, so that no dispute as to the fact of the sale, or the quality, ownership, or price of the goods should subsequently arise between the parties.