Business and Dealings

Free travel insurance with tickets purchased using a credit card

Q: If a person pays for a flight overseas with his credit card, the bank provides free travel insurance. Will it be permissible to use a credit card (which he keeps in positive balance so as not to get involved in credit but to get a good credit record) to purchase his flight tickets with the card with the intention of getting the insurance? If not paying with the credit card he would have to use cash or a debit card anyway.

Pet food

Q: I have a supermarket and I am a retailer of basic food and groceries. I would like to know if it is permissible for me to sell any pet food (dogs and cats) as none of the variants (tin or dry) are halaal certified. Also as a pet owner, is it permissible for me to store and feed my pets these meals (dry or in a can)?

Using interest money to pay import duties

Q: Can interest money be used to pay the import duty, taxes, anti-dumping (AD), and countervailing duties (CVD) which a government levies on imported goods?

Anti-Dumping Duties (AD): "A protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value...They come into play when a foreign company is selling an item significantly below the price at which it is being produced. The logic behind anti-dumping duties is to save domestic jobs, although critics argue that this leads to higher prices for domestic consumers and reduces the competitiveness of domestic companies producing similar goods." [http://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/anti-dumping-duty.asp#ixzz3ZkRuXZqq]

Countervailing Duties (CVD): Countervailing duties (CVDs), also known as anti-subsidy duties, are trade import duties imposed under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to neutralize the negative effects of subsidies. They are imposed after an investigation finds that a foreign country subsidizes its exports, injuring domestic producers in the importing country." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countervailing_duties]

Father insuring the son's car

Q: A young man gets a car from his father. The car is registered on the father's name though. The father takes out insurance on the car against the young man's wishes. The young man meets in an accident costing 50 000 for the panel beaters. Now he has to claim from insurance since that's what the father had been paying for etc. Later, the cars window gets broken, the young man wants to pay for it with his own money to avoid getting involved in haram insurance, the father gets it repaired with insurance. Through this the young man had to become involved in the transaction because he had to take the car in, get quotes etc, because it's his car, would his involvement in this respect be sinful? What should he have done otherwise

Giving a loan in a foreign currency

Q: I have some money in the form of foreign currency which I bought for investment purpose a year ago at 15.75/ unit of currency. Now one of my friends needs some money and he approached me to lend him some amount for a few months. As I don't have money in the form of Pakistaani Rupees, I told him to take foreign currency from me and get it exchanged with Pakistaani rupees. But I put one condition that I have bought that currency @ 15.75/unit and now the market rate of that currency is 13/unit. I gave him 3000 units of currency no matter at which rate he will sell those units in the market but he will have to return me the money @ 15.75 on which I originally bought that units. For example if now he sold that 3000 units @ 13 in market he will get Rs.39000 but he will have to return me the money @ 15.75 which becomes Rs.47250. Is getting that extra amount justified by Shariah? Is it a Halaal transaction to do?

Advertising an item that one does not have possession off

Q:

1. Say I place advertisements for commodities that I do not have possession of. The advert will not mention that I do not currently possess such items. Anyone seeing the advert the will be given the impression that I do possess such items, but no lie/deception will take place. Then when customers contact regarding these products I will take down their orders, but not take payment. Only once I purchase and physically possess these items from my supplier, I will then contact the customers regarding payment. Is this manner of advertising commodities that I do not have possession of permissible?

2. After paying the supplier for the product, the supplier sends it to me via a courier company. Whilst this product is still travelling to me across the country in the possession of the courier company, but nevertheless after I have paid for the product, can I sell such a product to a customer?