Various masaail of Business and Dealings

Q: I am 18 years old and will be completing my schooling this year. I am considering joining the army after I matriculate. Initially, after my training is complete, I will serve a certain amount of time in the army and may even be called upon to fight for the country (as is happening currently, where South Africa is fighting in certain other African countries).

My idea is that after some time, when I have sufficient training and experience, I will leave the army and become a mercenary (a soldier for hire). There is a great demand for mercenaries, especially in dangerous countries such as Iraq and other war-ridden countries like the African countries suffering from war lords, etc, and this profession is extremely lucrative.

Is this profession permissible in Islam?

Q: Many companies state at the bottom of their invoice "goods remain the property of the above company until fully paid for". What is the status of the goods and is such a condition permissible?

Q: I am a college teacher. My winter break started from 23 Dec 2018 to 18 Feb 2019. I delivered a baby girl on 26th Dec 2018, just three days after the start of the winter break. I am entitled to 6 months maternity leave.

Can I submit the said leave after my winter vacation is over so that I will get 6 months more with my baby? The leave rules in our state mention that maternity leave can be availed a little before delivery or after delivery. Is it wrong if I show my delivery date a month later in my documents?

Q: I own a gym and I am also a qualified fitness trainer. I have kept my facility segregated i.e. I have different timings for ladies and gents. However, people frequently ask me why I have kept it segregated. What should I tell them?

Also, I have a question regarding training my clients. Someone contacted me and requested me to provide training services in their home for their elderly parents as his parents are very sick and old and can't come to my gym. What is the ruling regarding training the opposite gender? Is there a separate ruling for women who are elderly? Is there a separate ruling if the husband of the old woman is present or not?  

Q: I'm going to my home country on vacation from Saudi Arabia and my company is giving me an air ticket of 2090 Saudi Riyals. I told them that I will buy it myself.

If I buy a cheap ticket in a less privileged airline and show them an invoice of a privileged airline, the same that the company was supposed to buy for me. Kindly tell me if it is okay or the surplus money will be haraam.

Q: I work in a government organization as an officer. We deal with a lot of tenders. Everyday lots of contractors visit us regarding projects. These days we are working on a new tender and a contractor (let’s call him X), who frequently visits us, informed me that his company’s country head is in town and wants to meet us. I asked him to come to our office and meet our team.

X came along with the country head and we discussed technical matters. At the end of our meeting, the country head gave us a gift bag and told us that this is a souvenir from his side for us. We were 3 team members but he brought souvenirs for only the two of the team members. He didn’t give anything to the third person.

Was this ‘souvenir’ a bribe to us? Because the meeting was regarding a tender, but we are not giving them any favours. We are going through the whole tender process as transparently as possible. I am worried whether this souvenir is a bribe or not, because I realised it later on, after he left, that it might be a bribe. We still won’t be giving them any favours on the tender project. If it is termed as a bribe, what should I do now because I have already accepted the gift.

Note: The country head gave us the products that his own company makes, hence called it a souvenir. 

Q: When Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) came to Madina, the people used to pay in advance the price of dates to be delivered within two or three years. He said (to them), ‘Whoever pays in advance the price of a thing to be delivered later should pay it for a specified measure at specified weight for a specified period’”(Bukhari no: 2239).

I read this quotation in a book. Can I know how it is done according to mazhab of Shaafee?

Q: What I would like to know is; are there any sunnah businesses like textiles, gems or itr, etc? Is it either sunnah or emphasised in shariah for barakah?

Q: I have a question about withdrawal from a broker. I know FOREX trading is a separate issue, but lets say you do.

My question isn't about FOREX specifically, its about withdraw. Lets say our first initial deposit is $1000, then you make profit and your account becomes $5000. Now some brokers will say that first you have to withdraw your initial deposit, then you can withdraw your profit. This is haram. But if the broker lets me take all my money, then its halal. Please explain why the first scenario is haram.

Q: Please advise if this method of saving money is halaal.

6 people each agree to participate in a group savings plan. Each person pays monthly to 1 person an amount of R1000.00 for 12 months. Person 1 recieved R12000 in the first month being January. Then person 2 recieves R 12000 in March and so on and so forth; whilst each person still pays R 1000.00 for the rest of the year. In this way each person recieved a bulk amount of R 12000.00 even though they may not have paid their full amount on their turn of taking out the R12000.