Various masaail of Business and Dealings

Q: I live in Pakistan and my father is a govt servent. He is about to retire and at retirement the govt gives alot of money as provident fund. This money is actually a combination of 3 things.

1. It cuts from monthly salary for over 25 years.
2. Each month govt adds some amount to this monthly.
3. Bank adds up interest and that I also added to the amount

At retirenment all these amounts add up and given to the employee. So is it halal to do hajj with this money?

Q: I’m a bachelor and I live with my friends in Canada. There are non-Muslims also living at our place. Ever since I’ve moved to this place I’m unable to save any of my earnings. Alhamdulillah, I earn well and donate sadaqa on a regular basis, and try to perform my prayers on time. However, I’m unable to save money since I moved here and it’s been more than 8 months. I’ve had no major expenses apart from my needs and living expenses. My non-Muslim friends always consume alcohol in the hall area. Does this reason impact on barakah or is there any other reason that I need to look into?

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: A bank in the US is offering an automatic reimbursement of foreign ATM fees on their checking account. **The reimbursement is in the form of cash, deposited directly into the client's bank account.** Would it be permissible to accept the reimbursement, given that the bank also earns from mortgage interest from people who take mortgages from the bank?

I ask because services such as deals and discounts on 3rd party products through the bank are considered haram. However, in this case, the bank itself is providing reimbursement of fee for a service that is typically charged by other banks.

Q: I have one issue being raised in our family regarding the share in a family business.

I will tell you a short introduction about the business condition.

I am the elder son in my family. My father wants to resolve this issue on behalf of our family and my cousins. My father has 5 brothers and my late grand father passed away about 20 year ago. Afterwards, all the brothers joined the business equally. No one withdrew their share from the business. Every expense was mutual and every purchase was mutual. Both my uncles and my father's sons are included in the business some years after the death of my grandfather.

As we and our cousins were young and mature when joining, later we put our efforts and experience in the family business at the same level as our uncles were doing. Only two elder brother's sons are in the family business.

One thing to note is that my uncles did not agree to do other business because they only agreed to expand the family business.

One of my cousins has 4 sons and he wants to separate the business but now my uncles (my father's brothers) are saying that my cousin has no share in the business because he was included in the family business on behalf of his father. Everyone can see my cousin's and my brother's efforts and the expansion they made to the family business and that effort was not possible by any employee.

We gave new ideas of doing business which was successful for the expansion of the business. We made new businesses and branches in profit running positions.

My uncles are denying our efforts that we did in the business and they are saying that we, the cousins have no share in the business because it was 5 brothers who were partners in the business.

Please note: My cousins gave 20 years in the business and my brothers gave 16 years in the business.

Please tell us if we are eligible to ask for our share from the business and if so, what is the Islamic ruling in this condition. They used us for so long in the business and we never thought that we were not part of the family business. We were doing all this effort for them only.

Are the 5 brothers the only shareholders? Two of them joined the business at the same age when one of my cousins joined the business because they are about same age. All the brothers are still in a working position and active members in the business, none of them are sleeping partners. My father has done more than his share and is still working.

Q: Is it halal to lend someone one's name and that person uses that name in business transactions. The other person will get a commission for certain percentage of sales. Note that the lender of the name does not have any concern with the nature of the transaction.

Q: The policies that were paid out to us after my fathers death included interest. We have worked out the interest amounts and discharged it. Will the money from the policies be permissible for us to use? The amounts of the policy includes only the premium amounts now.

Q: One benefit of being a client of a certain bank is that you are able to download an application from the internet called the entertainer. This application is separate from the bank and gives you the ability to purchase items at a discount rate. Being able to download this application is not dependent on any amount that you spend with the bank but is a perk of having a bank account with them.

Note. A person may purchase the application for around R500 per year on their own. If they are clients of the bank they can download the application for free. Please advise if this is permissible to download and use as a client of the bank.

Q: I want to start a school where I also want to educate poor students who cannot afford education. They will be given admission on the basis of a contract saying that in future when they start earning they will give 10% of their earning to me and in the case where they don't earn, they don't have to give anything. Is this permissible?

Q: There are some online stores which offer a subscription to their program for a monthly fee. Among the benefits of being a member is that one will receive a discounted price if he has to purchase any item from that store. Is it permissible for one to take up such a subscription?