Business and Dealings

Advertising in the newspaper and on online platforms

Q:

1. Is it permissible to advertise for my business in the newspaper?

2. Is it permissible to advertise for my business on advertising platforms like Gumtree and Junkmail? On such platforms, once a person clicks on my ad, he will not see other people’s ads. However, ads from other websites of all sorts may pop up.

3. Is it permissible to advertise for my business on Instagram? If someone has to come to my Instagram account, he will only be able to see my posts.

On all these three platforms of advertising, pictures of animate objects of all sort appear in other people’s ads. Also, some of the ads which appear are of an impermissible commodity.

Woolworths credit card

Q: Woolworths offer a credit card for R69 per month. The benefits are that a person gets free delivery on all orders online.

Secondly, every purchase one makes with the card accumulates 3% cash back. Would it be permissible to use this card, not earn interest nor pay interest, but use the free delivery extensively as well as the quarterly cash back.

Who is responsible for shipment or courier when ordering an item?

Q: I ordered an item from overseas. When ordering, they offer you various shipment options, such as couriers, post office, etc., with various pricings.

1. Does this make me responsible if the post office loses the item, because I chose who I want to deliver the item to me, making them like my wakeel to accept the item and transport it to me. However, on the other hand, the seller still remains in control of the shipment since they sent it. For a lost parcel the seller will have to contact the post office and submit the claim, etc. not me.

2. The parcel disappeared, it seemed to be lost. The seller sent a new item by courier, which reached me within a week. The seller (non Muslim) will make a insurance claim for the 1st item from the post office. Can I use this 2nd item they sent me?

3. A few months later the first item arrived in the post. However customs want a payment of R1000 to release it. I need this shipment to be sent back to the seller because I have already received the 2nd parcel they sent, and this is extra. Who will have to pay for the return shipping and customs fees?

Paying back a loan to the heirs of the deceased after the death of the creditor

Q: I borrowed 40000 US dollars from a friend of mine in America in 2008, which was equal to Rs 2500000 at that time. Our verbal agreement was to return the money in dollars. I could return $33000 through money changer, then there was a ban to transfer of dollars to another country. My friend passed away in America. I informed his family about the remaining amount and requested to collect that through someone travelling to Pakistan. After that there was no answer. I sent a registered letter on the given address but that letter returned to me as there was nobody to receive it. There had been correspondence on that address. I tried to trace them by other means but could not find them. Three years have passed. The Dollar rate has increased more than double. Please advise me in this regard.

Working as a data statistic analyst in a media advertising agency

Q: I am currently unemployed in Australia as I recently migrated and now I have got a job offer in media advertising agency as a Data Statistic Analyst which involves working on Microsoft office and other data tools.

My query is, as the company deals with video advertising and media work so will my rizq be halal? Islamically am I authorised to work in such organisation? 

Developing an online selling website for a person who will sell images

Q: I work as a freelance web designer and programmer. Recently, a client asked me to create a website with an online store system to sell PSD files. PSD file stands for PhotoShop document. They can be simple graphic designs or images that people use (for example, book printing companies always purchase book cover PSDs).

I programmed and designed the online store. Once I reached the final steps of my work, I found out that this client will use the website I built to sell some weird images. These images are not pornographic, but they are very weird 3D models of people (mainly half-naked girls), for some game companies. Apparently, the game companies buy this person’s designs to use in their games. These images are not classed as pornographic, but they have so much weird sexual underflow.

I get paid a one-time payment for creating the “online selling platform”. I do not “host” this website for the client. My job was just to make a selling system for digital files and it stops there. Similarly, I will not be uploading the pictures to the site. Will the money that I earn through creating this site be halaal? Keep in mind that I did not know what the purpose of this site was.