Islamic Economics
Centre (DaruliftaAhlesunnat)
(Dawateislami -Darulifta
Ahle Sunnat)
Question
What do the Islamic scholars say regarding the following: a shopkeeper
sells mobile covers with designs. He has given us an offer as follows: sell my
product by uploading the pictures on your social media accounts: WhatsApp,
Facebook and Instagram. When you give a price to your costumer, also include
your profit margin in it.” He furthers says, “once the deal is struck with a
costumer, forward his address to me. I will deliver the product to the
costumer. And after keeping my amount, I will also send your profit margin to
you. Is taking profit in this manner is
permissible for us? And if this is not permissible, please guide us to a
permissible way?
بِسْمِ اللہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
Selling and purchasing
and earning profit in the above-mentioned manner is Impermissible and haram.
The detailed answer is
as follows: One of the fundamental conditions for a sale to be valid is that
the seller must own the product being sold. If this condition is not met, the
sale will be considered "Batil," meaning it will be void from the outset.
Another essential condition is that if the product being sold is movable, the
purchaser must take possession of it before selling it to another person.
Selling a movable object to someone before acquiring possession of it renders
the sale Fasid (invalid). Therefore, selling and
purchasing in the manner described above is not permissible.
An alternative to the
aforementioned impermissible method:
A permissible method
would be as follows: if the shopkeeper has the mobile covers in his possession,
you make the deal with him in the following manner. “Instead of firstly buying
from you and then selling to others, I will sell your product as a commission
agent and will charge a certain percentage as a commission fee.” Please note
that the commission must not surpass the Ujrat-e-Mithl i.e. the remuneration
practiced in the market. So in this case, you act as
an agent who posts the pictures of mobile covers on his own social media
accounts and sells them on behalf of the shopkeeper. Now it will be permissible
for you to receive agreed-upon commission against every article from the
shopkeeper.
As far selling things
not in the ownership of the seller is concerned, the beloved prophet صلی اللہ علیہ و آلہ و
اصحابہ و سلم has stated:
’’ لاتبع ماليس عندك‘‘
Translation: Do not sell
that which you do not own. (Sunnan
Al-Nisae, Vol 7, Page 289, Halab)
The beloved prophetصلی اللہ علیہ و آلہ و
اصحابہ و سلم
has said regarding the prohibition of selling something before acquiring its
possession:
’’من ابتاع طعاما فلا يبعه حتى
يقبضه، قال ابن عباس: وأحسب كل شىء بمنزلة الطعام ‘‘
Translation: if one buys
grain, he should not sell it before acquiring its possession. Hazrat
Ibn-e-Abbas رضی
اللہ تعالی عنہ
says, “I believe everything is like grain (in this regard)”(Sahih Al-Muslim, Vol 3,
Page 1160, Halab)
It is mentioned in the
book Badaiyus Sanay:
’’شرط انعقاد البيع للبائع ان
يكون مملوكا للبائع عند البيع فان لم يكن لاينعقد‘‘
Translation: it is a
condition for a sale to be effective that the seller owns the product at the
time of sale and if he does not have its ownership, sale will not occur.(Badaiyus
Sanay, Vol 5, Page 147, Beirut)
It is mentioned in the
book Badaiyus Sanay:
’’ومنها القبض فى بيع المشترى
المنقول فلا يصح بيعه قبل القبض‘‘
Translation: acquiring
the possession of a moveable object before selling it other is also one of the
conditions of the sale. Therefore, selling it before acquiring its possession
will invalidate the sale.(Badaiyus Sanay, Vol 5,
Page 180, Beirut)
It is mentioned in the
book Al-Ishbah Wannazair:
’’بعه لى بكذا، ولك كذا فباع،
فله اجر المثل“
Translatin: when one asks an
individual (broker) to sell an item for him and (in return) he will pay an
amount as Ujrat (fee), the broker deserves Ujrat Mithl (i.e.
renumeration in market practice).
The book “Sharah Hamavi” while explaining the abovementioned text of the
book Al-Ishbah Wannazair says:
’’اى ولايتجاوز به ماسمى“
Translation: The Ujrat-e-Mithl should not surpass
the agreed upon Ujrat(Sharah Hamavi Ala Al-Ishbah Wannazair,
Vol 3, Page 131, Beirut)
The commission fee will
be the liability of the seller as It has been mentioned in the book Durrul Mukhtar:
’’واما الدلال فان باع
العين بنفسه باذن ربها فاجرته على البائع“
Translation: when a
broker sells an item with the permission of its owner, his commission becomes
due upon the buyer.(Durrul Mukhtar ma Raddul Muhtar, Vol 04, Page 560, Beirut)
Sayyidi Ala Hazrat
Imam-e-Ahle-Sunnat Molana Sha Imam
Ahmed Raza Khan رحمۃ اللہ تعالی علیہ ,in Fatawa
Razaviyya, mentions the ruling regarding the
remuneration of an agent who has made an agreement with the seller:
”اگر
بائع کی طرف سے محنت وکوشش ودوادوش میں اپنا زمانہ صرف کیا تو
صرف اجر مثل کا مستحق ہوگا، یعنی ایسے کام اتنی سعی
پر جو مزدوری ہوتی ہے اس سے زائد نہ پائے گا اگر چہ بائع سے قرارداد
کتنے ہی زیادہ کا ہو، اور اگر قرارداد اجر مثل سے کم کا ہو تو کم ہی
دلائیں گے کہ سقوط زیادت پر خود راضی ہوچکا۔“
Translation: if a broker
makes effort and runs to and fro on behalf of the
seller, he will deserve only ujrat-e-Mithl i.e. he will not receive
more than what is for this sort of effort though the seller has initially
agreed upon much more than that. And if they initially agreed upon less than ujrat-e-mithl, he will receive
only the agreed upon amount as he himself has agreed upon lessening it.(Fatawa
Razaviyya, Vol 19, Page 453, Raza Foundation Lahore)
It is in Bahar e Shariat:
”
دلال کی اُجرت یعنی دلالی بائع کے ذمہ ہے جب کہ اُس نے
سامان مالک کی اجازت سے بیع کیا ہو۔“
Translation: The
commission fee of a broker is a liability of the seller provided he has sold
with his permission.(Bahar e Shariat, Vol 02, Page 639, Maktaba Tul Madinah)
Answered By: Abu Muhammad Mufti Ali Asghar
Attari Madani
Ref No: IEC-0035
Date: Zulhijja til Haram 28, 1444 Hijri/
July 17, 2023
Translated
by Maulana Abdul wajid madani
وَاللہُ
اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَرَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ
وَسَلَّم
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