Insurance Policies, Medical Aid and Hospital Plan
Q: What is the difference between a service plan and medical aid, insurance or hospital plans? All seem to render a service to the person in case of need.
Business and Dealings
Purchasing the harvest before it appears
Q: Is it permissible to sell the fruit of a tree before the season of its growth (i.e. before it appears on the tree)?
Purchasing an unborn calf and goat
Q: Is it permissible to buy an unborn calf or goat in advance? In other words, a person says to the farmer, “I am purchasing the next calf that is born from your flock.”
Alternative for charging a penalty on late payment
Q: A person runs a business and sells goods to people on account. What provision does Islam have for this person’s security in terms of him getting his money on time as it is not permissible to charge a penalty upon late payment? Sometimes, the account can be so huge per month that it can bring his entire business to a standstill.
Selling magazines, movies, etc.
Q: Is it permissible for me to sell movies in my shop? Also, some customers have asked me to start selling magazines. The magazines they want are mostly filled with pictures of almost naked women. Is it ok for me to sell magazines like this if I make sure I don’t read it myself?
Seller giving the purchaser an additional item with the sale
Q: Will the sale be permissible in Shari’ah if I give a free cellphone cover to every customer who buys a cellphone?
Selling an item without informing the customer that it is second-hand
Q: I run a cellphone counter in town. Sometimes I sell a phone to a customer and he changes his mind after a few days and comes to return it. If he also returns the original packaging with the phone, I put the phone back in the box and re-sell it as a new phone. Is this permissible in Islam?
Selling an item without disclosing its defect
Q: Sometimes a few items in a batch of stock are slightly damaged. Do we have to tell the customers about the damage before selling the items to them?
Sleeping partner fixing his share of the profit more than his capital investment
Q: Ayyoob and Junaid each contributed R200 000 as their capital investment to start a business partnership. They both agreed that Ayyoob will work in the business and Junaid will be a sleeping partner. Is it permissible for Junaid to stipulate his share of the monthly profits as 60% (i.e. 10% more than his capital investment)?
Profit share of working partner exceeding his capital share
Q: Muhammad and Mahmood started a business partnership by each contributing R250 000 as capital. They have mutually agreed that Muhammad will work in the business and Mahmood will remain a sleeping partner. In exchange of the work he does, is it permissible for Muhammad to stipulate an extra 10% of the monthly profits for himself over and above his 50% share?