Trade

Online Forex trading

Q: It is right, you can't sell what you don't possess. But in online trading you actually not dealing with any party directly. It is new technology and electronic trading. The possession of gold is in electronic form. I have a lot of gold I purchased and I can sell that gold through a broker to any person in the world. The electronic possession of gold will be given to the other person and the cash transfer will also take place and I will get my money (profit or loss) through the broker and the person who is buying will also pay the broker. You are not deceiving or lying to anyone. You deal with the broker directly and the broker is known to every trader. In online trading with broker, actually you get possession of that thing in a system which we are going to sell. Every buy should be closed with selling and every selling should be closed with buying. It is new technology online trading. Buying something itself in the system has the physical possession which is online possession because as I sell it, it becomes changed to money which I get (profit or loss). A more easy example is, there is one dealer who is taking care of my gold, and I say him to sell my gold, and he gives me money back. If I want more gold, I purchase and keep with him, which he takes care online (broker). In broker record, I have the possession of that gold electronically (but not physically). I don't see my gold physically but electronically I have possession of that gold and when I want to sell it, I get my money back. In my understanding, in physical business why you can't sell something until it comes in possession because that thing can be defective or have flaws and if you sell, the other person will have a disadvantage and it comes with deceiving and lying. Here you are not deceiving or lying to anyone. It's like a knowledge and study. Good performer gains money and bad performer loose money or depends on the gold market price rates.

Dealing in gold

Q: There is a company that carries out gold trading. I will pay them some amount and they will open a gold account for me. Gold rates are linked with the real gold rates which are current internationally. When I buy gold from my money, this gold is not physical. Rather, it is just the value of the gold that reflects. If I want to sell that gold, I can get my money back (not the gold) to my account. It could be profit or loss.

Paying a percentage of the bill as wages for the waiter

Q: Certain Muslim restaurants have made it a rule that a 10% hospitality fee (tips for waiters) must be paid over and above the bill. In some cases, it is clearly indicated on menus and notices, and in others, it is not advertised. Is it Islamically correct for restaurants to charge this fee? We, the customer, have no choice in paying this additional tip if we decide to eat there.

Giving secular tuition and selling secular textbooks and notes

Q:

1. Is it correct to give tuition to students studying at secular universities? It would involve a male giving tuition to other males only.

2. Is it correct to sell the notes, past papers and textbooks etc. for certain subjects at secular universities?

3. Is it correct to sell the notes, past papers and textbooks etc. for certain subjects at secular correspondence universities (like Unisa)?

All three questions above relate to permissible subjects viz., mathematics, accounting and computer programming.

Changing one's dollars on the black market

Q: I am visiting Argentina for a month. I have come across that the Peso Dollar official rate and black market rate to be very different. The official rate is around 8 pesos while the black market rate is around 15 pesos. Is it permissible for me to change my dollars in the black market? Someone told me that it is not permissible because its a type of riba and cheating and going against the law of the country. Please advise.