Valid & Invalid transactions

Avoiding interest when purchasing a house

Q: I am planning on buying a new house that costs $250,000. However, I do not have enough money to pay the full amount up front and I do not want to pay interest on the house. The deal I have worked out with the company selling the house is that I will pay $300,000 for the house but I will not pay any interest. Meaning, I will pay $2,000 every month for 150 months for a total of $300,000. This way the company will make some money on the house and I will not pay any interest.

Is this a permissible deal for me to make?

Not paying college fees

Q: I went to a college in 2015 and for three months I missed payments to them. I want to pay it back now but I only want to pay for two months. Because the one month we did not do much work and they wasted my time. Can I pay for two months or do I have to pay for all three months? They have no record of it, and they are not asking. But I know that I missed three payments. Do I have to pay for it or must leave it?

Charging the customer under a wrong, misleading pretext

Q: I work at a company that sells wooden boards. Carpenters come to us with the measurements of the customer’s job, then we use a computer program to work out how many boards the customer will require. Sometimes, the customer only requires two boards but the carpenter asks us to charge him for three boards. The customer thinks that he needs three boards and is paying for three, whereas he only needs two and is only receiving two while the carpenter takes the money from us quietly for the third board. My boss says that we are not doing anything wrong because the carpenter is taking the money and we are not taking anything. Is this permissible?

Paying a higher amount of school fees when paying in instalments

Q: I have a query regarding the payment options of my son’s school fees. Please advise whether the following option is permissible:

Pay in full by the first Friday of February and receive a 5% discount. This amounts to R12 350 for the year instead of R13 000 if I have to split the fee over each school term or per month. The various payment plans are as follows:

1. As detailed above with 5% discount = R12 350 per annum

2. An amount of R3250 per school term = R13 000 per annum

3. An amount of R1300 per month for 10 months (Jan-Oct) = R13 000 per annum

Commission

Q: A friend and I want to sell cars together. He has the experience in buying and I have the cash. This is how we wish to work.

1. He will find me the right car that is worth buying to resell.

2. I must buy the car myself with my money.

3. He will find me buyers.

4. I must sell the car myself to the buyer.

5. He (my friend) will get a cut from the profit of the sale.

Is this way of dealing correct? He will not put money in, but will basically do the work of finding the supply and buyers. I must do all transactions, If I loose for some reason he will not share the loss. He will only take a share in the profit of a winning deal.

Online forex trading

Q: Please advise regarding online forex trading. I have read other nodes but answer is still not clear. It is a swop free account - so no interest is charged if trades are kept overnight. I only trade forex and stay clear of individual stocks. When a transaction takes place I am purchasing a contract to exchange the difference between the opening price and the closing price of that contract. Please provide a clear yes or no answer.

Different cash and credit price

Q: Is installment business halaal or haraam in Islam. Explaination: Company XYZ purchasing Product from Market in 1000 Rs. and Sell it on 2000 RS (double Rate) in 20 installments (100 Rs per day). One recory man is reserved for it for Recover Payment from Buyer Shops. (Recory man Salary is about 15000/month) But ON Cash Payment, Company Sale Same Product in (1500 RS). Is this type of business is halal or Haram in Islam.