Note 218 — Chapter IV · NOMADISM AND AGRICULTURE.

Al-Buchârî, Recueil &c. p. 67, No. 2. It is true these expressions might be balanced by a few somewhat opposite in character, such as that which declares that in the judgment of the Prophet the best business is Trade; according to other reporters Manufacture; according to others (whose version is regarded as the correct one) Agriculture (see al-Nawawî on Muslim’s Collection of Traditions, IV. 32). Still such sentences, even when confirmed by others, cannot weaken the force of those cited in the text. I must also mention in conclusion that al Shaʿrânî in his Book of the Balance (Kitâb al-mîzân, Cairo [Castelli], 1279, II. 68) mentions this question as a point of difference among the canonical authorities of Islamic theology: the school of al-Shâfeʿî regards trade as the noblest occupation, whilst the three other Imâms (Abû Ḥanîfâ, Mâlik b. Anas, and Aḥmed b. Ḥanbal) declare for field-labour and manufactures.