A mode of trading (mutajara) which involves the exchange of one asset for another without resorting to a medium of exchange (i.e., money). In other words, it refers to the direct exchange of a non-monetary item for a non-monetary item. An example is the sale of a commodity (say, rice) for another commodity (say, dates). This mode of trading was particularly popular in old days due to the lack or non-existence of money (dinar or dirham). Nowadays, it may be resorted to at times of hyperinflation (e.g., Germany in the aftermath of the World War II). In essence, muqayadha employs the principle of the double coincidence of wants. Shari’a permits muqayadha because it helps meet individuals’ needs for different goods and services.

As a type of sale (ba’i), muqayadha is based on the same elements of aqd al-ba’i (contract of sale), though it is void of the price element. Furthermore, the two underlyings (object of muqayadha) must not be monetary, lest the sale turns into sarf (the two underlyings are monetary), or into absolute sale (ba’i mutlaq) or salam sale (in case one underlying is monetary). The objects of muqayadha must be exchanged at the time of trading, and no deferment of each is imaginable in shari’a view. Moreover, shari’a maintains that muqayadha must not involve anything that belongs to the class of riba al-fadhl items.

Muqayadha is an Arabic term that translates a barter, barter sale, or barter exchange.

It is also known as ba’i al-ayn bil ayn.