Business and Dealings

Q: I work as an engineer and my job requires me to get quotes for items we need to purchase. I agree to a quote based on the price and the delivery date. For example, if I need to buy piping, I will get three quotes.

1. Quote A says our price is $10 per foot and we will deliver by May 5

2. Quote B says our price is $5 per foot but we will deliver by May 16

3. Quote C says our price is $2 per foot but we will deliver by May 28

I select, for instance, Quote A, and the terms are agreed upon. Now, sometimes a company misses the agreed upon delivery date.  If they miss the date by 1 or 2 days, we don’t have any problems, but sometimes, they miss the delivery date by 2 weeks or more. In this case, we tell the company that we will not pay the full price and that they must discount the price that was initially agreed upon because they did not meet the agreed upon delivery date. Is this permissible?

Q: Is it permissible for a Muslim to sell clothing made from pigskin e.g. gloves, shoes, etc.?

Q: My partner and I are planning on launching a mobile app for health conscious people. In the app, people will be able to review and rate healthy restaurants, gyms, sports gear, supplements, etc. Our revenue will mainly be through advertising for healthy restaurants, gyms and sports brands, etc. Some of the gyms here use music during workouts and some of them have male and female customers, even if both genders are not training in the same area or at the same time. We are not opening a gym, but we are providing a platform where people can review gyms in terms of quality, trainers, equipment, etc. and our revenue would partly come from gyms through them advertising on our app. Is this permissible?

Q: I went to a tailor to have a few kurtas sewn. My friend was supplying me with the fabric to sew the kurtas. However, the problem was that I didn't know how much of fabric I would require, and the tailor was also unable to tell me the exact amount that he would need for the kurtas.

I took the roll of fabric from my friend and gave it to the tailor. The tailor said that he would sew the kurtas, and after sewing them, he would tell me exactly how many metres of fabric he used. My friend told me that he would charge me R80 p/m for his fabric. According to our arrangement, I would only pay my friend for the fabric after the kurtas are sewn.

Is this arrangement permissible? If not, how should we have structured our deal, bearing in mind that I did not know, in advance, the exact amount of fabric that will be required?

Q: Please advise regarding online affiliate marketing programs:

Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing in which a business (the merchant) rewards an “affiliate” (marketer/advertiser) for each customer he brings to the business by his own marketing efforts. For example, Company Z (the merchant) sells only kitchen appliances online. They run an affiliate-marketing program where Umar (the affiliate) can advertise the merchant’s website on his own website, or other places on the internet – all for a monetary remuneration. Umar puts up an advertisement for Company Z on his own website. The following options are available for Umar, please advise on their permissibility:

1. Pay-per-sale (also called cost-per-sale): In this arrangement, the merchant site pays an affiliate when the affiliate sends them a customer who purchases something from the merchant’s website (in this instance – kitchen appliances). Some merchant websites pay the affiliate a percentage of the sale and others pay a fixed amount per sale. Is this permissible?

2. Pay-per-click (cost-per-click): In these programs, the merchant site pays the affiliate based on the number of visitors who click on the link to come to the merchant’s site. Even if the visitors do not buy anything, the affiliate will still be paid for referring them to the merchant’s site. Is this permissible?

3. Two-tier programs: These affiliate programs have a structure similar to multilevel marketing organizations (also known as “network marketing”) such as Amway or Avon, which profit through commission sales and sales recruitment. In addition to receiving commissions based on sales, clicks or leads stemming from their own site, affiliates in these programs also receive a commission based on the activity of other affiliate sites which they refer to the merchant site. Is this permissible?

4. Questions 1 to 3 above are in the instance of a merchant selling only permissible items i.e. kitchen appliances. Other merchants, like Amazon.com for example, sell a wide range of products, like furniture, electronics, clothing, books, TV’s and movies etc. The difference with such merchants (those that sell both halaal and haraam products) is that irrespective of what the affiliate may have advertised (i.e. something halaal), if a customer is to purchase anything else on account of the affiliate’s link that got him/her onto the merchant’s site, the affiliate will still receive a commission on the sale of such non-affiliate advertised haraam products. For example, Umar advertises only plumbing equipment for Amazon.com with an affiliate link on his website. A person follows this link, purchases the plumbing equipment, but also continues browsing the website and also happens to purchase a haraam video game. Umar now earns a commission on this as well. Thus, his total payout is partly based on the commission from the haraam video game and the commission from the permissible plumbing equipment. Umar is supplied with a detailed breakdown (‘earnings report’) of this total commission from the merchant. He thus knows that, for example, of his $10 total commission earned, $7 is from the direct link to the plumbing equipment and $3 is from the unintended/indirect sale of the videogame commission. By advertising the plumbing equipment, and accordingly bringing the customer to the merchant’s website, Umar did not aid or support the purchase of haraam in anyway. It was solely the discretion of the customer in purchasing the haraam. Will the entire $10 be permissible for Umar?

5. If it is impermissible for Umar to accept the commission from the sale of the haraam item, should he give the commission earned from the haraam item in charity without the intention of reward? Can he continue to earn money through advertising while taking out the commission earned from haraam items and give it in charity?

6. Some merchants pay the affiliate a predetermined percentage based on the type of product sold. Is this, the predetermined percentage that varies per the fixed product categories permissible?

(In all instances, the actual advertisements of the affiliate will not have any animate objects, music, etc. or anything impermissible associated with it at all.)

Q: A person does sewing as a business.

1. Can they ask permission from their customers to throw away the very tiny scraps of their fabric. eg. from overlocking and trimming seams etc?

2. Is it okay if she notifies them afterwards that some of the scraps might have been thrown away or should she tell them from the beginning that its possible that some of their fabric/cotton(scraps and shards of fabric eg.from fraying/ cotton from unpicking when altering etc.) could possibly be thrown away or does she have to notify them at all as sewing usually does entail all these? (usually she tries to return everything but sometimes very tiny pieces remain so notify afterwards)

3. Does she have to decide for each customer, whether she will sew for them or not, from what they are wearing at that point or from what they seem to be from what they speak (if she doesnt know them personally) or if she knows them to be parda concious or not and then let them know whether she will sew for them or not, or will a clear notice that all outfits(i.e. which she sews atleast) should be worn in accordance to shariah, suffice? Please give any other advise which might also be important to take note of when doing business.

Q: Is it permissible to post recipes from a book on WhatsApp without the permission of the author?

Q: I have often heard that celebrating birthdays is strictly prohibited and haraam in Islam. What is the ruling regarding the owners of hotels and restaurants which earn money for arranging these birthday parties?

Q: I am living in Dubai and I bought a limousine on instalments. I paid the down payment. I have a cousin who is working with me night shift. He did not pay anything for the limousin. I paid everything. Before buying the car, we agreed that we will share the profit half half end of the month. Now my question is, can I take a little more money?

Q: Someone owns a shop. Because people often ask for discounts, they mark the items higher, so when people ask for discounts, they give it and still get their desired profit. 

Eg. He wants a profit of R50 for a R100 item. However, knowing that people will ask for a discount, he marks the item as R200. So when people ask for a R50 discount, he gives it to them and still gets his desired profit. Is this permissible in Shari'ah or is that money haraam?