Monitoring the Marketplace

In one narration, Salama relates:

“On one occasion, I was walking through the marketplace and Hazrat Umar (ra) was also passing by in order to attend to some work of his and he was holding a whip in his hand. Hazrat Umar (ra) stated, ‘O Salama! Walk to one side of the path.’ He then lightly hit me with the whip which tapped the corner of my garment. I moved to one side and Hazrat Umar (ra) remained silent. A year had passed since that incident and I met Hazrat Umar (ra) once again in the marketplace. Hazrat Umar (ra) stated, ‘O Salama! Do you intend to go for Hajj this year?’ I replied, ‘Yes, O Leader of the Faithful.’ Hazrat Umar (ra) then took hold of my hand and took me to his home. He then took out a small pouch with 600 dirhams inside it and stated, ‘O Salama, use this to fulfil any needs you may have and this is in retribution for when I hit you with a whip one year ago.’”

Hazrat Salama states, “Upon this, I submitted, ‘O Leader of the Faithful, I had completely forgotten about that incident and only today you have reminded me of this.’”

(Ibn al-Juzi, Sirat Umar al-Khattab [Al-Azhar, Egypt: al-Matba‘ah al-Misriyyah], p. 98)

Hazrat Umar (ra) would also monitor the market prices so that neither party’s rights as citizens of the land were affected.

Mentioning this, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) states:

“Among the rights of the citizens is that the trade and dealings should not be adversely impacted. We find that Islam has not overlooked this right and therefore has prohibited one from increasing the market price and selling at a higher price. Similarly, it has also prohibited one from significantly reducing the prices in order to cause loss to others and making their businesses fail”, just as we see in the markets today.

“Once, a trader was selling grapes in Medina at such a price which other traders could not afford to sell at. Hazrat Umar (ra) was walking by at the time and admonished the trader because owing to this act of his, the other traders were suffering loss. Thus, Islam has prohibited one from selling products at an extremely high price and also from significantly reducing the prices, so that neither the traders are faced with loss and nor the members of the public.”

(Tafsir-e-Kabir, Vol. 10, p. 307)