Short answer
Yes, in two senses. Buying up food and other necessities to hold back until prices rise, when this harms people (ihtikar), is forbidden; the Prophet ﷺ said only a sinner hoards. Piling up gold, silver and money without paying zakat is also condemned in the Quran. Ordinary saving and keeping business stock are fine.
Ihtikar is makruh tahrimi: buying staple food, and in Abu Yusuf's view anything people need, in a town to withhold it and push up prices when this harms the public. Storing your own crops, or goods brought from far away, is not ihtikar. Saving wealth is permissible when zakat and other rights are paid.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Ihtikar is haram, and limited to staple foods bought at a time of high prices to sell later at a higher price.
- Maliki
- Ihtikar is forbidden in anything whose withholding harms people, not only food.
- Hanbali
- Ihtikar is haram, limited to staple foods bought in the town when it harms people.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ said: "No one hoards except a sinner." The jurists call this ihtikar: buying up goods people need and holding them back so that supply falls and prices rise. During shortages it is what people call panic buying for profit or price gouging.
The Hanafi conditions for ihtikar:
- The goods are bought in the town or its market, not grown on your own land or imported from far away.
- They are food or animal feed, and in Abu Yusuf's wider view anything whose shortage harms people, such as medicine.
- You hold them back to sell when prices rise.
- It harms the public. Holding stock in a time of plenty, when it does not affect prices, is not ihtikar.
The ruler may order hoarders to sell, and in the Hanafi school may fix prices when traders exploit people grossly. Normal business stock, stocking up for your own family, and saving money are not ihtikar.
Hoarding wealth. The Quran warns "those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah" of a painful punishment (9:34). Most commentators explain this as wealth on which zakat is not paid. Savings on which zakat is paid each year are not the hoarding the verse condemns. Use the zakat calculator, and see How much profit is allowed?
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:34
۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَحْبَارِ وَٱلرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ ﴿٣٤﴾
O you who have believed, indeed many of the scholars and the monks devour the wealth of people unjustly and avert [them] from the way of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah - give them tidings of a painful punishment.
Wealth kept back from its due rights is condemned.
Quran, Surah Al-Hashr 59:7
مَّآ أَفَآءَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ مِنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْقُرَىٰ فَلِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْيَتَٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ كَىْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةًۢ بَيْنَ ٱلْأَغْنِيَآءِ مِنكُمْ ۚ وَمَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمُ ٱلرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَىٰكُمْ عَنْهُ فَٱنتَهُوا۟ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ ﴿٧﴾
And what Allah restored to His Messenger from the people of the towns - it is for Allah and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives and orphans and the [stranded] traveler - so that it will not be a perpetual distribution among the rich from among you. And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you - refrain from. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.
Wealth should circulate, not be held by a few.
Sahih Muslim 1605
Sahih... لا يحتكر إلا خاطئ ...
"No one hoards except a sinner."
Holding back goods people need to raise prices is a sin.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Karahiya, section on sale (fasl fi al-bay'). Ihtikar of food and feed is disliked when it harms people; the views of Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf on its scope.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-Buyu', on ihtikar. The Hanbali conditions for forbidden hoarding.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.