The Difference Between Cheating in Weights and Hoarding

Question:
May Allah reward you. This is a message from Sa'd ibn Yahya, who sent the words of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He: . He asks, may Allah bless you: Does this include the hoarding of certain materials, especially foodstuffs?

Answer:
This does not include hoarding. This is *tutuf* (cheating in measure), which is reducing the scales and weights. If he sells to people, he cheats them in the measure and the weight; this is what *tutuf* is. Woe to those who cheat! Who are they? So *tutuf* is reducing the measures. If they measure for them or weigh for them, they shortchange them. Woe to those who cheat, who, when they receive a measure from people, take their full right, but when they measure for them or weigh for them—meaning, when they measure for them or weigh for them—they shortchange them and reduce the weight. Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, said: And He destroyed a nation among the nations because of their cheating in measures; they were the people of Shu'ayb. Allah destroyed them for that, because this is injustice to people. Glorified and Exalted is He, He said: "And do not cheat people of their things." It is obligatory for the Muslim to give people their full rights, just as he takes his full right from them. So why does he shortchange them of their rights?
As for hoarding, that is something else. Hoarding is the storage of necessary goods that people need, such as clothing, food, and drink, which people require, in order to make things difficult for them and sell them at a high price. Storing these things that people need is this hoarding that is condemned. As for supplementary items, there is no hoarding in them; hoarding is only in necessary items. Yes.