Q: If someone buys a load of timber, and then comes back and says that the size is wrong and he needs a bigger size, can one charge a 10% handling fee on the timber returned?

Q: I purchased a brand-new stove last year from a Muslim brother who owns an appliance store. Two weeks ago, the thermostat blew. When the electrician opened the stove and was changing the thermostat, he noticed that the brand-new parts of the stove had been replaced with old, slightly damaged parts before it was sold to me. When I complained to the appliance store, they acknowledged the fault but were unhappy to give me a full refund because of the blown thermostat. What options do I have in Shari’ah?

Q: How is Islamic (Shari’ah) finance any different to normal commercial bank finance? In both types of finance, you pay more money than you initially borrowed. In fact, in most cases, when you compare the two options, Islamic finance costs more. Is Islamic finance really halaal?

Q: If a customer wishes to return an item that he purchased merely because he changed his mind and there was nothing wrong with the item, do I have to cancel the sale or can I refuse to cancel the sale?

Q: I have employed a salesman who will be paid a commission. The commission is percentage based, but there is a different percentage stipulated based on the amount of the sales. For example, for sales between R1 and R5000, the commission is 5%, but from R5001 to R10 000, the commission is 7.5%. Is this permissible?

Q: I am a boy and I dance on instrumental music only. My form of dancing is waving and stunts and does not contain any vulgar and obscene dance moves. It is just simple movements of my hands and legs, and I am a solo dancer so there is no intermingling of sexes involved in it. If I earn money through dancing, will my earnings be considered haraam?

Q: I would like to know what kind of slipper I can wear in the state of ihraam. Is it a must to wear a 2 belt slipper or I can wear the slipper which is open in the front and back?

Q: Is it correct to place a mayyit (dead body) for salaatul janaazah on a table instead of on the ground? The table is permanently fixed to the ground in some places and is unfixed (like a movable normal table) in some places.

Q: My little brother got urine on his boots at school (at the bottom and top of shoe) and then walked from school to home in the snow, getting them wet. When he came home, he walked through the living room, spreading the wetness from his shoes all over the house. I did my best to wipe all the wetness off the floor but I don't even know all the places the water from his shoes got. Do I consider my living room to be impure? How can I make it pure again? I will have to mop the living room and the rest of the house, it that ok?

Q: Is water-birth permissible if a woman has covered the necessary areas?