Valid & Invalid transactions

Q: I want to buy a car. If I buy it for cash then the price is R260 000, and if I buy it in instalments, then I have to pay R300 000 i.e. R40 000 extra. Is it permissible to buy on instalments?

Q: I work as a middleman, taking orders for medical equipment, surgical instruments, etc. I make money through charging a commission on the orders. Is this permissible?

Q: Can you do a business transaction with your spouse? E.g. the husband wants to buy a car. Can the wife pay for it and sell it to her husband with a profit on the sale of the car?

Q: I run a supermarket. Is there any limit on the amount of profit that I can make on the items that I sell?

Q: My mother bought a property with a share from her brother the price of the property has doubled and now I want to sell the property. Should I give him the same amount of money he invested at the time or do I give him profit because the price of the house has doubled?

Q: A certain person owned a property that his friend wished to buy from him. On seeing the land, his friend offered him R1.2 million. He told his friend, “I don’t know the value of the property. If the value is more, you must sort me out.” After a week passed, the owner still hadn’t checked the value, but concluded a deal for R1.2 million, even making out a contract and signing the papers. A few months later, the initial owner learnt that the value was R1.5 million. He now wants to claim an additional R300 000 from the seller. Is this permissible?

Q:

1.    I remember hearing in a program that a person needs to take possession of an item before selling it. I sometimes receive inquiries about my product from people living in other provinces. My supplier is prepared to make courier arrangements for delivery directly to the customer with adding the courier costs to the price of the product. Although the customer receives the goods directly from my supplier, they do not know this as they pay me for the goods and courier costs and I pay the supplier in turn. Is this permissible?
2.    Some items are costly and I do not keep any stock with me. Is it permissible for me to charge the customer and then order the goods?
3.    I am also the distributor for an item which is made in another province. I do not have a vehicle of my own to transport the goods and the space to store bulk orders. Is it permissible for me to take orders from customers and get the transport company to deliver directly to the customer?

Q: At my work place, we sell airtime from machines. Because of the very low profit margin, my employer wants to, for example, sell the R5 at R6 and increase the other denominations accordingly. Will this be permissible according to Shari’ah?

Q: Can Mufti Saheb review the attached information  regarding this particular car deal and explain if it permissible to enter into such a deal. Shukran

Q: 

1. Zaid goes to a farm and chooses an animal for his qurbaani. This animal is marked and reserved for Zaid. Zaid pays for this animal. The animal dies of natural causes before Eid. Who sustains the loss? Zaid or the farmer? Is the farmer obliged to replace Zaid? If the farmer out of his good nature replaces Zaid, should he first inform him of the death of his animal?

2. Zaid selects and marks an animal. The farmer notices that the animal is sick and may succumb. Can he use his discretion and slaughter the animal and replace Zaid with a similar animal? Or is he required to first get permission from Zaid? I.e. to slaughter the animal and to replace it.

3. Zaid selects and marks an animal. After a few days the farmer notices a defect on the animal which disqualifies its permissibility to slaughter for qurbaani. E.g. the animal is blind. No one is sure as to when this defect came about. I.e. prior to Zaid’s choosing the animal or not.

   • Is the farmer obliged to replace Zaid?

   • What should Zaid do with this animal now that he is the owner of a defective animal? Can he slaughter it without the intention of qurbaani and consume the meat? Or is he required to distribute the meat to the poor?

   • Must Zaid purchase another animal if he is financially able to do so?

4. On the days of Eid Zaid accidently slaughtered an animal which was reserved for Bakar. Bakar had marked and paid for it. Does Zaid have to pay Bakar in cash or should he replace Bakar with another animal? Who’s qurbaani is discharged, Zaid’s or Bakar’s?

5. A farmer is requested to perform the qurbaani on behalf of many people. They do not come to the farm and slaughter the animals themselves. It often occurs that two or three people’s qurbaani is accidently missed out.

   • What must the farmer now do? Should he slaughter the animal after the days of qurbaani and distribute the meat or should the person who appointed him do that?

   • If the farmer does not inform the person who appointed him of his mistake rather he slaughters the animal and distributes its meat to the poor. He then slaughters another animal as a recompense to the one who appointed him and gives this animal to him without informing him that this is not his qurbaani animal. This person is under the impression that this is his qurbaani animal. Is such a practice correct?

   • Can the farmer slaughter a few extra animals with a general niyyat of qurbaani that this may suffice for those he possibly may miss out?