Barter (muqayada)

Muqayada is, in the lexicon, an exchange of one thing for another. The jurists define it as selling goods for goods; the Majalla defines it as exchanging a specific thing for a specific thing other than the two monies. ¹

Barter is a kind of sale. Its pillars, conditions and rulings are those of sale, except what concerns the price or obligations tied to the price, since there is no money in it. ¹

Neither side may be money; if both are money the deal is exchange of currency, and if one is money it is a general sale or salam. Each side must be a specific item: exchanging one named horse for another is barter, while selling a named horse for fifty kayls of wheat due later is a general sale or salam. Both sides must be handed over together, and no party is compelled to deliver first. The rules against excess in exchange of the same kind apply, citing the hadith of 'Ubada ibn al-Samit (may God be pleased with him) on gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates and salt. ^{1 2}

Each side serves as both price and item. Among the Hanafi cases: exchanging wine or pork for goods is void for those items; if one side perishes it is valued at the other's worth; the rescission of the deal survives if one side is lost but fails if both are lost. ^{2 3}