Question 1:
What do the blessed ‘Ulama [Islamic scholars] and Muftis [Islamic jurists] state regarding the following matter: Zayd is getting a job at a shop which sells goods on instalments. The details of salary are as follows: If he does marketing and contributes to a sale worth 400,000 in a month, he will receive a salary of 25,000 rupees, and if the sale is less than it, he will receive a salary of 1,000 rupees for a sale worth 100,000. Moreover, he will receive the salary in the same ratio if the sale is less or more than it. Is this job permissible or not?
Note :
The employment contract will not be for “one’s time” but for “one’s work”; there will be no restriction on time. Moreover, there is also a condition [for the customer] of paying fine if the instalment is delayed.
بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
It is not permissible to do a job according to the way mentioned in the question. Firstly, employment contract in this case has been made for selling goods, i.e. if the employee sells goods worth 100,000, he will receive 1,000 rupees and if he sells goods worth 400,000, he will receive 25,000 rupees (in the same way, there are cases of selling less or more than it). Making an employment contract for selling goods is not permissible as it is something beyond one’s power. Secondly, the condition laid down of paying a fine because of a delay in instalment is also not permissible because fine has been declared to be Mansookh [abrogated] and acting on Mansookh is Haraam [prohibited].
(والنظم للتبیین) ’’لو استؤجر بأجرۃ معلومة علی ان یشتری او یبیع شیا معلوما لا تجوز الإجارۃ لانە استؤجر علی عمل لا یقدر علی اقامتە بنفسە فإن الشراء والبیع لا یتم الا بمساعدۃ غیرہ وھو البائع والمشتری فلا یقدر علی تسلیمە‘‘
Translation:
If someone is employed at a fixed salary for buying or selling goods, this employment contract is not permissible because he has been employed for doing the work which is beyond his power. It is because buying and selling does not get completed without another person’s effort and another person is a buyer or a seller; therefore, the employee has no power to give the required benefit. (Tabyeen-ul-Haqaaiq, vol. 5, pp. 67)
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ واٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم
Islamic ruling on buying and selling on an unknown profit
Question 2:
What do the blessed ‘Ulama state regarding the following matter: I am a cloth trader who employs the following method: My maternal uncle purchases cloth from another country and pays out of his own pocket. I buy that cloth from him on credit and it is already mutually agreed that I will pay him its cost at which he has purchased along with half of the profit earned after selling it. Is it correct to do so? If there is a fault in this method, kindly tell us the solution as well. Questioner: Muhammad Arshad Attari (Markaz-ul-Awliya, Lahore)
بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
Islamic ruling on selling something worth a rupee at ten rupees
Question 3:
What do the blessed ‘Ulama and Muftis state regarding the following matter: Is it permissible to sell something worth a rupee at ten rupees?
بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
What do the blessed ‘Ulama and Muftis state regarding the following matter: Is it permissible to sell something worth a rupee at ten rupees?
[While selling things,] if there isn’t any unlawful act (such as telling lies, deceiving others, etc.), it is permissible to sell something worth a rupee at ten rupees with mutual agreement because the blessed Shari’ah has not placed any limit on profit. Imam-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat, Imam Ahmad Raza Khan رَحْمَةُ اللّٰەِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه was asked: ‘Is it permissible to sell something worth four cents at a double or triple price?’ He رَحْمَةُ اللّٰەِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه answered: ‘(This case and the previous one) both are permissible provided that one neither tells a lie nor deceives someone; for example, one says that something has cost him 4.25 cents after including all expenses but actually it has cost him 3.75 cents, or he tells the correct cost but changes the selling item, so he has deceived someone; these cases are Haraam, otherwise there is no harm in setting a high or low price of something.’ (Fatawa Razawiyyah, vol. 17, pp. 139) However, the appropriate way is to take the same profit which people usually take because people less often buy something from someone who takes a high profit and they also speak against him.