He had applied oil to his hand and very cunningly he applied...

He had applied oil to his hand and very cunningly he applied it to the pan of the balance which held the saffron. ‘Ali (a.s.) picked up the saffron from the balance and said, “First rectify your balance, then if you like you can give more than that.” Between mountains of fire The Holy Prophet (S) says: “One who does Khayanat in weighing and measuring is thrown into the lowest section of Hell. There he shall be placed between two mountains of fire. He will be told to weigh those mountains.

He will be busy in this forever.” The following incident is recorded in the book Tafsīr Minhajus Sādeqaen: A person by the name of Malik went to visit a friend who was sick. Malik says, “I saw him in a deplorable condition. He was screaming, ‘Two Mountains of fire are going to crash upon me.’ I told him, ‘It is only an illusion!’ He said, ‘No, it is true! Because I have two different balances. With one of them I used to short-weigh while selling and with the other I weighed more while buying.

I am punished for this so soon!’” Short changing is also Harām As it is Harām to short-weigh it is also Harām to short-measure like measurement of cloth or land which are sold by measure, must not be short measured. It is absolutely Harām. In the same way those items which are sold by number, like eggs or fruits; if someone sells them to a person and gives less than the specified quantity, he is counted among those who short-weigh and short-measure.

Shaykh Ansari has mentioned it in his book Makasibul Muharrama. The Seller who cheats is a debtor of the buyer The amount of goods given less by the seller is owed to the buyer. It is obligatory to give the balance amount to the buyer. If the buyer is dead he must give it to his heirs. If he does not know the buyer he must with the permission of the Jurist pay a similar amount as sadqa on behalf of the buyer.

If the seller does not know how much less he has given, he must give him some amount that will satisfy the buyer. If the buyer is dead he must satisfy his heir. If the buyer is unknown the Mujtahid must be satisfied. Defrauding is like selling short It is short weighing and short measuring when the seller gives less without the knowledge of the buyer.

The buyer does not realize that he is being given less than the stipulated quantity but it is defrauding when the seller sells some goods of an inferior quality and makes it out to be of a good quality. In this case too the buyer is unaware of being cheated.