Q: In salaah while performing four fardh, in the thrid rakaat, is it permissible if I read surah faatiha then surah ikhlaas?

Q: I want to open a pizza shop where I will be selling bacon pizzas as well as beef and chicken pizzas made from haraam meat. I will not eat from the shop, but I will be selling these items. Is this permissible, and will my income be halaal?

Q:

1. I want to sell t-shirts with different country flags on them for the upcoming Soccer World Cup. Will it be permissible to sell these t-shirts?

2. What is the ruling on advertising products with videos of people using them? Sometimes, products need a video demonstration or a photo to show how to properly use them. What is a permissible way to do this?

Q: I received a job offer at a convention centre where small to large scale parties are held. Catering services are also offered. Menus may include alcohol and pork dishes. My job may include serving the food to the guests. I have no other job at this time. Can I accept this job?

Q: I work as an engineer and my job requires me to get quotes for items we need to purchase. I agree to a quote based on the price and the delivery date. For example, if I need to buy piping, I will get three quotes.

1. Quote A says our price is $10 per foot and we will deliver by May 5

2. Quote B says our price is $5 per foot but we will deliver by May 16

3. Quote C says our price is $2 per foot but we will deliver by May 28

I select, for instance, Quote A, and the terms are agreed upon. Now, sometimes a company misses the agreed upon delivery date.  If they miss the date by 1 or 2 days, we don’t have any problems, but sometimes, they miss the delivery date by 2 weeks or more. In this case, we tell the company that we will not pay the full price and that they must discount the price that was initially agreed upon because they did not meet the agreed upon delivery date. Is this permissible?

Q: Is it permissible for a Muslim to sell clothing made from pigskin e.g. gloves, shoes, etc.?

Q: In kitchen where co-wives work together, occasionally the husband places hands on buttocks or breasts of one wife in front of another. The two wives have no qualms about it. But is it permissible in Islam?

Q: My partner and I are planning on launching a mobile app for health conscious people. In the app, people will be able to review and rate healthy restaurants, gyms, sports gear, supplements, etc. Our revenue will mainly be through advertising for healthy restaurants, gyms and sports brands, etc. Some of the gyms here use music during workouts and some of them have male and female customers, even if both genders are not training in the same area or at the same time. We are not opening a gym, but we are providing a platform where people can review gyms in terms of quality, trainers, equipment, etc. and our revenue would partly come from gyms through them advertising on our app. Is this permissible?

Q: I went to a tailor to have a few kurtas sewn. My friend was supplying me with the fabric to sew the kurtas. However, the problem was that I didn't know how much of fabric I would require, and the tailor was also unable to tell me the exact amount that he would need for the kurtas.

I took the roll of fabric from my friend and gave it to the tailor. The tailor said that he would sew the kurtas, and after sewing them, he would tell me exactly how many metres of fabric he used. My friend told me that he would charge me R80 p/m for his fabric. According to our arrangement, I would only pay my friend for the fabric after the kurtas are sewn.

Is this arrangement permissible? If not, how should we have structured our deal, bearing in mind that I did not know, in advance, the exact amount of fabric that will be required?

Q: Please advise regarding online affiliate marketing programs:

Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing in which a business (the merchant) rewards an “affiliate” (marketer/advertiser) for each customer he brings to the business by his own marketing efforts. For example, Company Z (the merchant) sells only kitchen appliances online. They run an affiliate-marketing program where Umar (the affiliate) can advertise the merchant’s website on his own website, or other places on the internet – all for a monetary remuneration. Umar puts up an advertisement for Company Z on his own website. The following options are available for Umar, please advise on their permissibility:

1. Pay-per-sale (also called cost-per-sale): In this arrangement, the merchant site pays an affiliate when the affiliate sends them a customer who purchases something from the merchant’s website (in this instance – kitchen appliances). Some merchant websites pay the affiliate a percentage of the sale and others pay a fixed amount per sale. Is this permissible?

2. Pay-per-click (cost-per-click): In these programs, the merchant site pays the affiliate based on the number of visitors who click on the link to come to the merchant’s site. Even if the visitors do not buy anything, the affiliate will still be paid for referring them to the merchant’s site. Is this permissible?

3. Two-tier programs: These affiliate programs have a structure similar to multilevel marketing organizations (also known as “network marketing”) such as Amway or Avon, which profit through commission sales and sales recruitment. In addition to receiving commissions based on sales, clicks or leads stemming from their own site, affiliates in these programs also receive a commission based on the activity of other affiliate sites which they refer to the merchant site. Is this permissible?

4. Questions 1 to 3 above are in the instance of a merchant selling only permissible items i.e. kitchen appliances. Other merchants, like Amazon.com for example, sell a wide range of products, like furniture, electronics, clothing, books, TV’s and movies etc. The difference with such merchants (those that sell both halaal and haraam products) is that irrespective of what the affiliate may have advertised (i.e. something halaal), if a customer is to purchase anything else on account of the affiliate’s link that got him/her onto the merchant’s site, the affiliate will still receive a commission on the sale of such non-affiliate advertised haraam products. For example, Umar advertises only plumbing equipment for Amazon.com with an affiliate link on his website. A person follows this link, purchases the plumbing equipment, but also continues browsing the website and also happens to purchase a haraam video game. Umar now earns a commission on this as well. Thus, his total payout is partly based on the commission from the haraam video game and the commission from the permissible plumbing equipment. Umar is supplied with a detailed breakdown (‘earnings report’) of this total commission from the merchant. He thus knows that, for example, of his $10 total commission earned, $7 is from the direct link to the plumbing equipment and $3 is from the unintended/indirect sale of the videogame commission. By advertising the plumbing equipment, and accordingly bringing the customer to the merchant’s website, Umar did not aid or support the purchase of haraam in anyway. It was solely the discretion of the customer in purchasing the haraam. Will the entire $10 be permissible for Umar?

5. If it is impermissible for Umar to accept the commission from the sale of the haraam item, should he give the commission earned from the haraam item in charity without the intention of reward? Can he continue to earn money through advertising while taking out the commission earned from haraam items and give it in charity?

6. Some merchants pay the affiliate a predetermined percentage based on the type of product sold. Is this, the predetermined percentage that varies per the fixed product categories permissible?

(In all instances, the actual advertisements of the affiliate will not have any animate objects, music, etc. or anything impermissible associated with it at all.)