It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever buys food should not sell it until he has taken possession of it."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever buys grain should not sell it until he has taken possession of it."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), we used to buy grain, then he (peace be upon him) would send a man to us who would order us to move the grain from the place where we had bought it before we sold it.

It is narrated from Nafi that Hakim bin Hizam bought grain which Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had distributed among the people, then Hakim bin Hizam sold that grain before taking possession of it. When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to know of this, he returned that grain to Hakim bin Hizam and said: Do not sell any grain that you buy until you have taken possession of it.

It reached Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) that during the rule of Marwan bin Hakam, people received certificates for the grain of Jar. People sold these certificates to one another before taking possession of the grain. So, Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) and another companion (Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him) went to Marwan and said: "Do you consider riba (usury) to be permissible, O Marwan?" Marwan said: "God forbid! What are you saying?" They said: "These certificates which people bought, then after buying, sold again before taking the grain." Marwan sent guards to seize the certificates from the people and return them to the certificate holders.

It reached Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, that a man wanted to buy grain from another man on a promise, so the seller took the buyer to the market and, showing him the sacks, said: Which grain shall I buy for you? The buyer said: Do you sell to me something which you do not possess yourself? Then both the seller and the buyer went to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, and informed him of this. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, said to the buyer: Do not buy that which the seller does not possess, and to the seller he said: Do not sell that which you do not possess.

Hazrat Jameel bin Abdur Rahman said to Saeed bin Musayyib: I buy those grains which are allotted to people by the government, then I wish to sell the grain to people on a fixed term. Saeed said: You wish to pay those people from the same grain which you have bought. Jameel said: Yes. Saeed bin Musayyib forbade him from this.

Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In our view, this ruling is agreed upon, that whoever buys grain, such as wheat, barley, millet, bajra, and lentils, etc., in which zakat is obligatory, or things eaten with bread, such as olive oil, or ghee, or honey, or vinegar, or cheese, or milk, or sesame oil, and things similar to these, then none of these things should be sold until he has taken possession of them.