The ways through which a person can be appointed as the khaleefah
Q: Could a parliament (not elected, more similar to China) exist in a caliphate as a structured form of shura or would enforcing shura be against the sharia?
Business and Dealings
Working in a non-Muslim butcher selling pork
Q: My father is a Muslim. He got a job offer by a non-muslim to come and work for him. My father is a blockman in a butchery. He cuts meat and so forth, but this person works with pork meat etc. Will it be permissible for my father to work for him even though my father does not consume their food etc.?
Relative on property cutting off water supply from tenants
Q: There is a landlord that has a property. On it there are three homes. In the one main home is a close relative that stays. The other two are rented out. The relative does not pay for anything. At first, the landlord gave the administration duties to the relative but the relative could not manage it properly.
The three homes are being fed by a single borehole for water (no municipal water) that is fed to three separate water tanks with three separate pipes to each homes. After excessive rains, the pressure pump got damaged and as a result the water pressure dropped considerably to the homes. The relative decided (while the pressure pump was attended to) to cut off one of the houses water supply so that they get a little more pressure in theirs. When the landlord came to know about it, he sent a message to them that they have no permission to do this. They ignored this message and went a step further to cut the other pipe as well and feed the main pipe to their home, resulting in that they have a little more water pressure so that they do not have a problem to shower. The landlord is in another province and is unable to attend to the problem personally. What should he do?
The one suggestion that was given is that because you are only charging rental to the two homes, the water issue is not your problem and they must sort it out themselves between the three of them and split all the costs, even the pressure pump. You were kind to supply good water pressure to their homes. If you go the extra mile you will be rewarded but there will be spiritual cost involved by being harsh with your relative. What is the Shariah way to deal with this?
Selling malic acid to breweries and to manufacture sweets
Q: I am interested in purchasing a company that manufactures malic acid. The acid is used in the manufacture of sweets to make them taste sour and also used in the manufacture of beer to give it a sour taste.
The main customer base of the company is the breweries.
Will it be permissible for me to purchase the company and maintain the same customer base?
Promoting women’s modest clothing on female models
Q: I would like to seek guidance regarding promoting a women’s modest clothing business on Instagram.
1. Is it permissible to advertise modest clothing using female models if their faces are covered or not shown at all (for example, only showing the lower body such as the outfit from the shoulders down or waist down)?
2. If using human models in this way is not permissible, would it be allowed to use AI-generated images to promote the clothing, where the “model” is not a real person and the face and eyes are also covered or not shown (only the lower body is visible)?
My intention is to maintain modesty while still presenting the clothing in a presentable and appealing way for customers.
Charging the customer handling fees on items returned
Q: Is it permissible to charge a general 15% handling fee for all returns for admin and transportation costs?
E.g. The seller is in Durban and the buyer is in Johannesburg or Cape Town. The seller incurred admin and transport costs to get the goods delivered and will incur costs to get the goods returned. There could be various reasons for the returns - incorrect goods supplied, excess stock bought, damaged goods received, buyer cannot sell the goods etc.
Buying in bulk due to fear rising from the Middle East conflict
Q: With the recent conflict in the Middle East, we are bound to be worried. Recently, the President of Brazil had called out to the the President of South Africa stating that we should be prepared and ready as our country is at a risk of getting invaded.
Some Ulama have called out in the Western Cape saying that we should stock up and store goods.
My question is, is it permissible to buy in bulk and store items?
Transfer costs if one partner leaves the partnership
Q: I am involved in a trust investment between 4 people. After a few years in this investment, I have decided to retract my investment interests in the trust fund. My pulling out has some name transfer costs. Who has to pay for the costs, will it be entirely on me or split between all involved?
Selling items on online stores with different payment options
Q: On Amazon and other online stores, there's a type of installment payment that involves interest. The buyer takes out a loan from the bank to pay for the product in installments, and the store pays the seller upfront without any interest. The buyer pays the installment to the store, and the store pays the seller the full price of the product immediately.
It's not possible to disable this payment option on these stores.
Would it be legal to sell on these online stores?
Suing for medical negligence
Q: Alhamdulillah, approximately 5 years ago Allah Ta'ala had blessed us with a baby girl. She was born prematurely and was jaundiced together with her blood type being incompatible with her mother. The doctor discharged her from hospital after keeping her for a night. After a few days at home her condition deteriorated to such an extent that when she was eventually rushed back to hospital the jaundice had already severely damaged her brain. As a result, she is now diagnosed with cerebral palsy and is handicapped to the extent that she is completely dependent on us for everything. She is unable to sit, talk, crawl, walk, eat or do anything else by herself and requires full-time care giving.
There is currently a group of lawyers who have heard about this case and after having shared the details of what had transpired with them, they strongly believe that this is a case of medical negligence and are prepared to take on this case at no charge.
Is it permissible for us to pursue this case and if it is then established in court that this was due to medical negligence, will it be permissible to sue the doctors for the medical costs involved thus far and those which may ensue in future as well in terms of specialized equipment, therapies, care giving, medical supplies, etc. which runs into tens of thousands of rands?