Business and Dealings

Q: Is it permissible to speak to and look at a woman during a business deal? Many women are running their own businesses. Will it be permissible to transact with them?

Q: Is it permissible to work as a property dealer and sell houses? Is this a halaal job?

Q: Someone has purchased shares in a property that has been rented out to Checkers. Will the rental income derived from this property be permissible, bearing in mind that Checkers has a liquor department within the store? Someone said that since the majority income is from other permissible items, the rental income is permissible. Please clarify.

Q: I want to sell a piece of land. The total price is R1.5 million. The buyer will pay me a 33% deposit as an upfront payment and the rest within 6 months, and then only will I hand over the land papers and land to him. If the purchaser fails to give me 67% within these 6 months, the sale will be cancelled and the purchaser will lose the 33% deposit. Is this clause permissible (forfeiting the initial deposit)?

Q: I am standing at a stall in a madrasah and selling things for the madrasah such as sweets, etc. The items do not belong to me but to the madrasah. Can I purchase items for myself from the stalls, or would this be impermissible since I would, in essence, be the buyer and the seller at the same time?

Q: I want to ask that I am working in audit firm and currently I have to audit different clients. Currently I am in bank audit. Can I drink water from bank premises as mostly income of the bank is based on interest and whether I can eat t​he foods from the money which is given by bank to my firm and my firm gives us to utilize for foods and dinner etc as we have to work late night.

Q: I want to write an ebook and to publish on Amazon Kindle. When somebody buy my book I get paid. Firstly the owners of Amazon are non Muslim so can I sell my book on Amazon Kindle. Secondly when a buyer buys my book I get paid. What if the buyer money is haram and mostly buyers are non-muslim and their money is involved with riba and other haram things. So this type of money will be halaal for me? When someone read my ebook ads are shown on their device sometime but I am paid royalties of my ebook not for ads so this is permissible?

Q: A person has a business where he sells day-old chicks. The customers order the chicks during the week and he delivers them on Thursday. However, the orders are not processed until they pay for the chicks upfront.

1. Is the deal correct since the customer has to pay when he orders the chicks and not when he receives them?

2. Sometimes, the chicks die before they can be delivered to the customer. Who will bear the loss for the dead chicks?

Q: Please advise in the following matter. 

Preamble:

1. Zaid, Amr and Khalid are equal partners in COMPANY A i.e. each one is a shareholder of 1/3 of COMPANY A.

2. Zaid and Amr are partners in COMPANY B. Zaid owns 75% and Amr 25%

3. Both companies have their own assets and liabilities including debtors and creditors

4. Zaid, Amr and Khalid have agreed to merge COMPANY A and B.

5. The agreement has been that in the new merged company “COMPANY AB” the shareholdings will be as follows:

a) Khalid 10%
b) Amr 27%
c) The balance of 63% will be owned by Zaid

6. When the merger takes place, then Zaid, the majority shareholder, wants to simultaneously sell 30% of his portion to his three sons in equal proportions for a nominal sum (R100 per 10%). Thus, each of his three sons will also own 10% each of COMPANY AB. Consequently, Zaid will only own 33% of COMPANY AB.

Questions:

1. What is the correct procedure to give effect to the merger, keeping in mind that both are major running companies?

2. How does Zaid sell off his shares to his sons and incorporate them into COMPANY AB?

3. How will the creditors and debtors be handled in both instances: (a) In merging COMPANY A and COMPANY B. (b) When Zaid sells off 10% each to three sons for a nominal value of R100 per share?

4. If, at the time of entering into the partnership, the condition was made that a partner should accept liability of a certain portion of the previous companies’ debts together with his capital investment, will this be permissible in Shari’ah?

Q: I work in an organisation which is an entrepreneurship development institute. The organisation trains entrepreneurs, offers business development services and provides them finance for starting their business by linking them to banks where they are charged interest and give loans directly also. I am working there as a coordinator responsible for the preparation of entrepreneur’s project reports which cover all the aspects including financials of the business. In simple words, entrepreneurs are given loans for business and I prepare their project reports without which they can’t get a loan facility as it is considered to be an essential document for securing finance. I want to know whether my job is halaal or haraam, and in case it’s haraam, can I continue working here till I get another job or should I quit immediately?