I have a service which anyone can subscribe by sending email to: XXXX in the body of the message subscribe ahad This service sends one hadith a day, english translation, from Sahih Al-Bukhari. Here's what they have sent me:
Bukhari Vol 8; no. 11
Narrated by Ibn Umar (Radhiallaho Anho): My father, seeing a silken cloak being sold, said, "O Allah's Apostle! Buy this and wear it on Fridays and when the foreign delegates pay a visit to you." He said, "This is worn only by that person who will have no share in the Hereafter." Later a few silken cloaks were given to the Prophet (Sallahllaahu 'alaihi wasallam) as a gift, and he sent one of those cloaks to Umar. Umar said (to the Prophet), "How can I wear it while you have said about it what you said?" The Prophet (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam) said, "I did not give it to you to wear but to sell or to give to someone else to wear." So Umar sent it to his (pagan) brother who was from the inhabitants of Mecca before he (Umar's brohter) embraced Islam.
From the hadith quoted above it seems like it is permissible to sell it or to give it to non-Muslims.
Praise be to Allaah.
We constantly advise people, when reading
texts that appear to present a problem, to examine all versions and
isnaads of these ahaadeeth, and to refer to the words of scholars and
commentators, because they have the knowledge and understanding that
can dispel the confusion. In the following discussion we will
quote several versions of the hadeeth as reported by al-Bukhaari (may
Allaah have mercy on him), then we will give a summary from the commentary
on the hadeeth by al-Haafiz Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallaani
(may Allaah have mercy on him) from his book Fath
al-Baari Sharh Saheeh al-Bukhaari, and from the commentary
of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) on the same hadeeth
in Saheeh Muslim.
‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar reported that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab
saw a hullah siyara’ [a type of two-piece garment] at the door of the
mosque and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, why don’t you buy this and
wear it on Fridays and when the delegations come to you?” The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “This is only worn by one who
has no share in the Hereafter.” Then the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was brought a number of
garments [hullahs] of the same type. He gave one of them to ‘Umar ibn
al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) and ‘Umar said, “O Messenger
of Allaah, are you giving it to me to wear it when you said what you
said about the hullah of ‘Utaarid (the vendor of the first hullah)?”
The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I am not giving it to you
to wear it.” So ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with
him) gave it to a brother of his in Makkah who was a mushrik.”
(Saheeh al-Bukhaari, 837).
According
to another report: “[The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:] Sell it and benefit
from its price.” Al-Bukhaari, 896.
According to another report: “I did
not send it to you for you to wear it, for it is worn only by one who
has no share in the Hereafter. I sent it to you so that you could benefit
from it – i.e., by selling it.” Al-Bukhaari, 1962.
According to another report: “Umar said: ‘How can I wear
it when you said what you said about it?’ He said, ‘I did
not give it to you for you to wear it; sell it or give it to someone
else.’ So ‘Umar sent it to a brother of his among the people of
Makkah, before he [the brother] became Muslim.” Al-Bukhaari, 2426.
According to another report: “He said:
‘Sell it and spend the money on your own needs.’” Al-Bukhaari,
2826.
According to another report: “He said: ‘I sent it to
you so that you could make some money from it.’” Al-Bukhaari,
5617.
Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said:
“Concerning the phrase, ‘Why don’t you buy it and wear
it?’ – it is as if ‘Umar wanted the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to buy it and wished that
he would do so. ‘This is only worn’ – according to the report of Jareer
ibn Haazim, he said, ‘silk is only worn’. ‘One who has no share’
– Maalik added in his report, ‘in the Hereafter.’ This could mean
the one who has no share in the Hereafter, i.e., of silk clothes.
‘He gave it to him’ – it is apparent from the rest of
the hadeeth that he did not give it to him to wear, or it could mean
that he gave him something that could be used for clothing. [The verb
used, kasaa, has the sense of covering or clothing]. According
to the report of Maalik, ‘Then the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was brought a number of
similar hullahs, and he gave one to ‘Umar.’ In another report, ‘Later
on some hullahs (of the same type) were brought to the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), and he sent one to ‘Umar and one to Usaamah ibn
Zayd, and gave one to ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib.’
‘Sell it and spend the money on your
own needs’ – means benefit from its price, or it could mean trade it
or exchange it, or some more general meaning.
(Note): the reason why this hadeeth was included in Baab
al-Hareer li’l-nisa’ (Chapter on silk for women) is because
the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said to ‘Umar, ‘sell it or use it for clothing.’
Silk is forbidden for men, and there is no difference between ‘Umar
and other men in that regard, so the permission to give it to someone
else to wear applies only if it is given to a woman. The fact
that ‘Umar gave it to his brother should not be a source of confusion
to those who believe that the minor issues of sharee’ah apply to kaafirs
too, as ‘Umar gave it to his brother to sell it or to give it to a woman
to wear.
In some versions of the hadeeth… Ibn
‘Umar said: ‘The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw ‘Utaarid wearing a silk
garment and he disliked that for him, then he gave ‘Umar a similar garment…’
and ‘… [he said,] “I did not give it to you to wear it, I gave it to
you to give to women to wear.”’ This is an indication that it
is permissible for women to wear pure silk.
Imaam Muslim (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported
in his Saheeh that Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with
him) said: ‘The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) one day wore a coat of silk brocade
that had been given to him, but soon afterwards he took it off and sent
it to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab. It was said to him, “But you took
it off so quickly, O Messenger of Allaah.” He said, “Jibreel forbade
me to wear it.” Then ‘Umar came to him, weeping, and said, “O
Messenger of Allaah, you disliked something and gave it to me. What
is wrong with me?” He said, “I did not give it to you to wear
it, I gave it to you to sell it.” So he sold it for two thousand dirhams.’
(Reported by Muslim, 3861).”
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said
in his commentary on Saheeh Muslim:
“In the hadeeth of ‘Umar about this
hullah there is evidence that silk is forbidden for men and permitted
for women, that it is permissible to give it, that its price is permitted,
and that a Muslim is permitted to give a kaafir clothes and other things.
‘So ‘Umar gave it to a mushrik brother
of his in Makkah’ – this is how it was reported by al-Bukhaari and Muslim.
According to a report narrated by al-Bukhaari in some chapter, ‘‘Umar
sent it to a brother of his among the people of Makkah, before he [the
brother] became Muslim’ – this indicates that he (the brother) subsequently
became Muslim… This also indicates that it is permissible to maintain
family ties with kaafirs and to treat them well, and that it is permissible
to give gifts to kaafirs. The permission to give silk clothes
to men does not mean that they should wear them. Some may misinterpret
this to mean that kaafir men are permitted to wear silk, but this is
incorrect. The hadeeth describes giving a gift to a kaafir, but does
not give them permission to wear silk. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent silk garments to ‘Umar,
‘Ali and Usaamah (may Allaah be pleased with them), but this does not
mean that they were permitted to wear silk; he stated quite clearly
that he was giving it to them so that they could benefit from it in
some way other than by wearing it. The correct opinion, which
is that of the majority of scholars, is that the minor issues of sharee’ah
apply equally to kaafirs, so they are forbidden to wear silk just as
Muslims are. And Allaah knows best.
Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on
him) reported another hadeeth on the same issue from al-Miswar ibn Makhramah,
who said that his father Makhramah said to him: ‘O my son, I have heard
that the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has received some coats and he
is sharing them out, so let us go to him.’ So we went and found
the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) in his house. [My father] said to me, ‘O my son,
call the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) for me.’ I felt too embarrassed, so I said, ‘Should
I call the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) for you?’ He said, ‘O my
son, he is not arrogant.’ So I called him, and he came out carrying
a coat of silk brocade with gold buttons. He said, ‘O Makhramah, we
kept this for you,’ and he gave it to him. (Reported by al-Bukhaari,
Kitaab al-Libaas, Baab al-Muzarrar
bi’l-Dhahab).
Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on
him) said in his commentary on the hadeeth:
“ ‘He came out carrying a coat of silk
brocade with gold buttons’ – it is possible that this happened before
silk was prohibited, but after silk and gold were prohibited for men,
this report can no longer be used as evidence by those who want to permit
these things. It is also possible that this happened after these
things were prohibited, in which case the garment was given so that
the recipient could benefit from it either by selling it or by giving
it to women to wear.”
In brief, then, the answer to the matter
raised in the question is that so long as a silk garment has some legitimate
use, such as clothing for women, then it is permissible to sell it and
take the money paid for it. And Allaah knows best. May Allaah
bless our Prophet Muhammad.
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