Business and Dealings

Receiving the normal price of an item when returning an item instead of the discounted price

Q: If a person sells a certain item and a discount was given to the customer and thereafter the customer wants to exchange the item or be refunded for it, will it be permissible to subtract the discount given (proportionally)? If the discount is not reversed will it be regarded as interest?

eBucks

Q: Kindly please advise.

My husband has a credit card which he uses to do transactions and alhamdulillah all these transactions are interest free. He uses it for convenience so he doesn't need to carry cash. By using this card he earns ebucks points which have accumulated and will be very valuable in purchasing necessary appliances in the home. Is the purchasing of these items with the ebucks points permissible?

Selling a car as a loophole to acquire a loan

Q: I have a question regarding interest. I have a financial issue in my business. I need around 5 million to complete my running order. A friend of mine has an electronics business. He is selling his products at a higher price in easy monthly installments. As I told my problem to him, he bought a vehicle for 5 million pkr and sold me this vehicle for 7.5 million in six monthly installments. I sold this vehicle to the same owner at a lower price (4.99 million) and took money for completing my order. Is this haram in Islam? Because my friend is taking money against a product, not against money, and I'm paying him for a vehicle, not for money. If it is haraam, then what is the solution because I already used the money and invested in my business after selling the vehicle. 

Charging a penalty for late payment and calling it admin fees

Q: I am currently renting my business premises from a an Islamic trust. They have amended the current lease agreement to state that 2% interest will be added to late payment of even a months rent. When the Muslim tenants objected, they changed the word interest and now describe it as admin fees.

Is this allowed? This very trust contributes to the funding of the masjid and Islamic school.

Demanding payment from a client

Q: I did work for a Hindu. Payment was due months ago. He owes me R425. It is a tiny amount, but I spent a lot of time on the work, and the amount will cover certain business expenses.

He promised thrice to pay. I stated clearly the terms when I quoted him before he paid the deposit, which he agreed to. But now he says, months later, those terms are unfair, so he will not pay. I should email, and message him several times for months, but no response.

He finally answered the phone. I was so angry at his excuses and lies, that my hands started shaking and I started arguing loudly and interrupting him. I never get vulgar or insult, but I was rude and hostile. I never became like this ever before on a worldly issue in my entire life. Eventually he said he will pay month end. I said "Thank you, goodbye".

If he was a Muslim, I would have overlooked this for the sake of peace and community, hoping reward from Allah Ta'ala. But this treatment from a Hindu, I don't appreciate. Please advise:

(1) Was I sinful in talking rudely, angrily, and hostile with him? If yes, must I apologize to him for being rude? He has continued to lie and ignore me for months, and I finally got to speak to him on this occasion.

(2) What do you advise regarding the R425 he owes me? Should I pursue it or just drop the matter in view of peace? The next option I can consider is issuing him a legal letter of demand, following with Small Claims Court. But I do not want to go to court. However, I can threaten him with it. Insha Allah I will follow your advice.

Mandatory travel insurance on Hajj and Umrah packages

Q: Please can you advise on the verdict regarding travel insurance. We understand all forms of insurance are not permissible, however I did notice that on the Hajj and Umrah packages there is mandatory travel insurance. Please can you advise what is to be done in this situation?

On the same subject, is it permissible to hire a car? There is also an insurance clause in the fine print of the agreement that needs to be signed before hiring.

If there are alternatives to the above that Ulama and others use when going for hajj/umrah please also let me know what these are.