Trade

Q: If one wishes to buy gold coins or gold jewellery, then what are the conditions for the transaction to be valid? Are there any particular masaa’il related to this?

Q: Is it permissible to have a different cash price and credit price for the same item? For example, if a customer buys an item upfront, he will pay R1500, but if he buys it in instalments, it will cost him R2000. Is this allowed in Islam?

Q: I'm a perfume trader in which we get orders for men and women perfumes. As women's are prohibited from using perfumes so can we distribute or sell ladies perfumes products.

Q: I purchased 3 abayas from a lady online. All 3 turned out short even after giving measurements. She tried to fix them but changed the look of the abaya I ordered (it does not look like the original picture). When I received it, they were dumped in a bag. When I called her to say its a slim fit and short and I cannot wear it like this, she asked where her abayas were, to which she responded "oh god". She said her abayas are tailored so it will seem short irrespect of my size, so couldn't she inform me of this? So I could then say... make it bigger, looser and longer as I am in niqaab and cannot leave the house with immodest abayas. She then says why I didn't tell her I'm in niqaab. Being in niqaab or not doesn't matter when purchasing an abaya. I want to send them back to her but she is ignoring me and my messages and refuses to send me her address. The abayas cost R3049 and she doesn't seem bothered that her customer isn't happy. I mentioned that I'm not asking for a refund but that she takes the abayas back and give me the correct sizes but she refuses. Please advise going forward as I havent been rude to her at all but shes been abrupt and not accommodating.

Q: Some salesmen don't accept small change when we make a purchase. Example, I purchased a water bottle for 11 AED and I had 10 AED with me. I gave it to him and said that I will give the 1 AED later. He said ok and the next time when I gave him he said, "Its ok leave it". He is not the owner of the shop. He told me that since its a large industry, 1 AED doesn't matter.

In the college library there is a rule that if a person failed to return a book within a certain time limit, he had to pay a fine of 1 Rupee per day till the book was returned. I returned the book 2 days late and told them that I am late. They told me not to repeat it next time. They did not take the 2 Rupees from me. It was a librarian and not the owner of the college or library who told me that.

Q: Am I allowed to sell a book I got for free?

I ordered a secondhand book online for a class I'm taking. It arrived very quick, and it looked completely new, not secondhand at all, but I no longer needed it as I had already bought the ebook. I put the book for sale online. What I usually do is sell it for 2x or 3x the price I paid, but still cheaper than the retail price. But then, a few days later, I got another copy of the book in the mail, and this one looked more like a secondhand book with highlights and stuff. I thought maybe the company made a mistake and sent me 2 copies, but I just remembered, about a month ago, I had filled out a form on the book company website pretending to be a teacher to see if I could get the book for free. I have done these before, and they never work, so I was just doing it for fun. My answers were absurd, with a fake name, institution, etc, and I thought it would eventually take me to a page with more security where I would have to provide proof of identification, but the form suddenly ended and it was submitted. I had completely forgotten about it, and there were no updates in my email about the book, whether my request was approved or whether the book was shipped. I still have a feeling that this company is likely the one who sent me the book. So, my question is, what do I do with the book? I didn't mean to get it like that, like I didn't think the form would work, but now that I have it, is it permissible to sell it?

Q:

1) We have customers who buy on credit. Is it permissible for us to tell them that we will give them a discount if they pay before the due date? For example, the customer purchases goods worth R100 000 on a three month credit basis. The customer is told, “If you pay within one month, you will receive a 10% discount”. Is this permissible?

2) I owe someone money through a cash sale, and there were no terms given for payment. If I ask the seller for a discount saying, "If I pay you tomorrow, will you give me a discount? From R10 000, will you make it R9 000?" and he accepts to give me a discount, will it be permissible?

Q: I am a businessman from Pakistan. I was looking into a new business opportunity which is in the kids entertainment industry. I was keen to know whether this sort of business is halal or not.

Basically we are looking into opening a kids play area which will have a softplay area and will have a few games like sports e.g. rock climbing or similar games. Mainly our focus will be kids of all ages but we are expecting teenage girls and boys as well. We won't be able to segregate the play areas.

Secondly, we might also have video games which include cartoon characters and some small rides for kids which are shaped as animals or cartoon characters. I am fully aware that music is haram so we are not planning to use any kind of music in the background.

Q: Is it permissible for a Muslim to sell hot cross buns in his store?

Q: Is it permissible for a person to borrow goods from someone for the purpose of selling, and when he receives similar goods, he will replace the goods?