Ijaarah

Q: A person does sewing as a business.

1. Can they ask permission from their customers to throw away the very tiny scraps of their fabric. eg. from overlocking and trimming seams etc?

2. Is it okay if she notifies them afterwards that some of the scraps might have been thrown away or should she tell them from the beginning that its possible that some of their fabric/cotton(scraps and shards of fabric eg.from fraying/ cotton from unpicking when altering etc.) could possibly be thrown away or does she have to notify them at all as sewing usually does entail all these? (usually she tries to return everything but sometimes very tiny pieces remain so notify afterwards)

3. Does she have to decide for each customer, whether she will sew for them or not, from what they are wearing at that point or from what they seem to be from what they speak (if she doesnt know them personally) or if she knows them to be parda concious or not and then let them know whether she will sew for them or not, or will a clear notice that all outfits(i.e. which she sews atleast) should be worn in accordance to shariah, suffice? Please give any other advise which might also be important to take note of when doing business.

Q: I have often heard that celebrating birthdays is strictly prohibited and haraam in Islam. What is the ruling regarding the owners of hotels and restaurants which earn money for arranging these birthday parties?

Q: I am starting a business providing tuition to students. Can I charge them per month to be paid at the beginning of the month at a fixed fee, say R100 per lesson for 8 lessons, so R800 for the month. My concern is that they might not attend all the lessons but they have already paid, is this permissible?

Q: What is the position of a phone contract in Islam? Is it regarded as a sale or ijaarah (hire) as one is buying a phone and also paying for minutes, data, and SMS?

Sometimes, if the person doesn’t use all the minutes, he will lose the remainder and it will not carry over to the next month. Are such contracts permissible?

Q: I have a contract with a teacher. She said that she will teach me 5 days a week (20 days in a month) for 1 hour on video call and I have to give her 160 riyals. But she taught me only 7 days in the month and less than half hour, not video call just sending voice recording on WhatsApp.

Can I give her less money, only 100 riyal for 7 days. She is asking 160 riyal claiming that the days I did not teach you, you can revise what I thaught you before.

Q: My father works in an insurance company which is being run by Muslims and follows Muslim laws. He himself is an insurance agent who does insurance of different people and the more people participate, the more commission he gets. I want to know whether the money he earns is considered halal? Because the insurance policies he introduces gives that person money time by time.

Q: I am currently employed by taking ID photos of people that want to make ID documents or want to renew their drivers licence. Am I commiting a sin? I have no other work to support myself or my family. Currently there is a demand for ID photos in my town. Even Muslim people come to me for photos for passports. Please advice me. 

Q: I rent out cars to tourists and sometimes while doing currency conversion, I take lesser than the agreed price as they don't have change or coins are not available. I take lesser to be on the safe side and not taking more as I may be sinning. Is the way I proceed OK?

Q: Please clarify the following for me:

Generally, companies run through advertising and it thus plays a major part of many businesses. Therefore:

1. Some people specialise in doing the marketing/advertising for the company and get paid for their services.

2. Some people with computer abilities upload such ads on websites and get paid by the companies.

Are these types of jobs impermissible? If so, will magazines, radio stations etc. charging people for advertising also be impermissible?

Q: I am going to rent my apartment. Someone handling the property told me that the tenant will give 2 months advance rent and security deposit.

1. Is it permissible to take the rent of one or two months in advance?

2. Is it permissible to take a security deposit?

3. Is it permissible to rent my apartment through this man or I should do the deal myself?

4. I have never seen the apartment, possession is not yet given to me, but I have paid the full amount during construction. Is all this fine?