Q: Yusuf is going shopping. So his friend Umar asks Yusuf to buy something for him and he will pay Yusuf later. Yusuf ends up getting a big discount.
Must Umar pay him the normal price or the discounted price?
Q: Whenever I take my son (2.5 years old) to the mall with my family for shopping, he always tantrums and cries to buy expensive cars (500 USD). If I have to take a small cheap car for him, he is never satisfied and sometimes he reminds me at home with a sad face. Alhamdulillah, my financial position is sound and I can afford to buy it. What is the Islamic ruling?
Q: Please advise on the following:
A Muslim optometrist is having a problem with unqualified people smuggling fake designer frames into the country. These people send their customers to professional optometrists for eye tests and they ask for a script. Then they have their glasses made at a reduced cost by the "pirate" dealer.
Is it Islamically correct to have these types of crooks reported to the authorities? Some are Muslims and some are Non-Muslims.
Q: We buy some property. One partner only gives 10 lacs while others give 50 lacs. Before selling the property we say to 10 lac partner that we will give you 20000. After selling the property we give him 20000 to him. We fixed the amount before selling the property. Is it halaal or sood?
Q: I have a savings account in a bank. Someone transferred extra money which does not belong to me into my account. I enquired alot from the bank but they told me that it was from some government court. I called the bank more than 5 times and told them that I have no encounter with the court. They cannot do anything or provide any information. I waited for a long time for the owner to claim their money or contact me but unfortunately nobody claimed it. I'm in need of money for my marriage but my heart does not allow me to touch that amount. Please tell me if the amount is haraam or halaal if I spend it?
Q: Is it permissible for an employee to claim from the UIF Fund or is it like an insurance plan? Kindly explain the status of this fund.
Q: I wanted to ask a query regarding Shariah compliant index funds. I read from Muft Taqi Usmani's introduction to Islamic finance that investing in stocks is permissible based on 4 main conditions:
1. Majority of business activities being permissible,
2. Portion of income which is from Haram sources must be given to charity,
3. Majority of assets must be in illiquid form
4. One must disapprove of the company's Haram practices at the shareholder meeting.
An index fund is made up of tiny percentages of shares from each company. For example, if you invested $1000 in an index fund made up of 50 companies which are equally weighted, you'd approximately hold $20 worth of shares in each company. One such index fund is called the MSCI Shariah Index - a sample of stocks from which a company called Wealthsimple in Canada would use in creating an investment portfolio. The companies are screened based on liquidity ratios, income sources, and a purification percentage provided every so often to enable the holder of these funds to purify ones wealth. Furthermore the screening takes place to ensure most income from the company and liquidity is up to the level required. I wanted to find out if investing in such a type of scheme is halaal? The only criteria it doesn't seem to meet is the one where one must object to Haram business dealings in a shareholder meeting. As one would own such tiny percentages of these big companies, one wouldn't have the opportunity or even be part of the shareholder meetings. Kindly advise if this would be required in this situation.
Q: I'm pretty sure you are aware of how dropshipping works, where someone buys from another person who actually buys from another wholesaler, etc.
So my question is that, would dropshipping be permissible if in the advertisement the following things are stated:
- Time and duration of delivery
- That the actual seller does not have possession of the item
- A thorough description of the item
Q: I have a friend who is in financial trouble, he has to repay a huge amount of a loan. I know one person who has won some money in a bet, he wants to use the bet amount to help someone in need and does not want to use it for himself.
Is it permissible to use the bet amount to help someone in need without any intention of sawaab?
Q: I am living in United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi). Here, there is a scheme available in the Banks by the name of "National Bond". In this scheme, I have to buy some bond with the minimum of 5000 Dirhams. This 5000 Dirhams will always be with the bank until I withdraw it. Every month the bank will have a lucky draw and the winning price will be 100 000 Dirhams or 1 Kg of gold, etc. If I withdraw the 5000 Dirhams then I no longer qualify to participate in the lucky draw. Is this halaal or haraam in Islam?