Decorating one's business with Christmas decorations
Q: If a Muslim is in a non-Muslim country, is it permissible for him to decorate his business with Christmas decorations?
Various masaail of Business and Dealings
Advising Muslim clients not to purchase properties that have haraam businesses and occupations as tenants
Q: As an estate agent I regularly deal in property. Often I am faced with confusion when fellow Muslims wish to buy a property that is currently leased to a non Muslim and haram organisations. Below are some examples of tenants whose buildings are for sale, and I have to advise Muslims whether it is permissible for them to buy in or not:
1. Non Muslim homes
2. Supermarkets that sell haram products
3. Liquor stores
4. Gambling dens
5. Non Muslim places of worship
Money deducted from salary and given at retirement
Q: My question is regarding the interest on a GP fund of government employees. A fixed amount is deducted from our salary on a monthly basis, against our will, and then they give interest on it annually. One gets this total amount on his retirement. What is the Islamic ruling regarding this? Is it halal or not?
Speaking lies to use softwares
Q: There are softwares that require us to meet a certain requirement in order to use them. For example, one such software can be downloaded for free, but after a 30-day trial the software asks questions like "How often did you travel by airplane last year?" If we select the "more than 2 times" option, the software stops working and we have to uninstall it. However, if we choose the option "less than 3 times," it lets us continue its use.
1. Will it be permissible to use the software if we select that we flew less than 3 times even though if we did not?
2. If someone other than the user, who did fly less than 3 times, selects that option, can the user continue the software's use? There are websites which have a pop-up that comes up, asking us to subscribe to the website. If we don't want to subscribe, we can close the pop-up by clicking on sentences like "Not yet, I'll subscribe later," or, "No, I don't like to learn."
3. If I don't intend to ever subscribe to the website, then would clicking on these types of sentences to make the pop-up go away be permissible?
4. Would it be a lie?
Getting jinnaat to work in one's business
Q: This may sound bizzare but it's something someone actually told me. He says if a person owns a business, it would be a much more feasible to get jinnaat to work in the form of human staff. As crazy as it sounds, it's an interesting idea. What is the Sharia opinion on this?
Opening a cafe with purdah facilities
Q: Is it halaal to open a cafe where there will be mix gathering? If it is haram how can one avoid this haram thing in a cafe? I am a teenage girl and my father is opening the cafe but he does not practice Islam well. Please advice us on how we could avoid haraam?
Trading one tuna for two salmons
Q: I have been curious for a while now about, "what is considered the same جنس when it comes to fish"... more specifically, can I trade 1 tuna for 2 salmons, would it be riba? Is the جنس the entire species of fish (which would entail riba) or is it in each respective sub-species, e.g. tune, salmon, yellowtail etc.?
Receiving extra money from the company one worked for
Q: This incident happened 10 years back.
I worked for an American company in UAE. While travelling in UAE, I billed the company for my travel expenses (as per the company policy) the bill was for 20,000 Dirhams but they transferred USD 20,000 in my account. I contacted the finance person and asked him to send the correct amount and withdraw the wrong amount. He did that, however, few days later, another USD 20,000 was deposited in my account. I contacted the bank this time but they told me it’s the correct amount as per the transfer. So I didn't do anything for 5 years. Few years back (feeling uneasy) I contacted the company again to see if they wanted their money back but I didn’t get a response. What should I do since I have already used this money? I have been giving out sadaqah with the intention of paying back this amount. Is this correct?
Loyalty points from Woolworths, Pick n Pay and other stores
Q: Please advise if the rewards and loyalty points earned at woolworths, pick n pay and other stores permissible to use.
Using work facilities for one's personal work
Q: I have made my bio-data, salary voucher, experience letter, etc., in my previous office without taking permission from my boss. I have used the office printer, computer, internet, paper and other things for printing these documents. While doing this, I was aware that it might be haraam.
Can I use these documents for any interviews, jobs or even any other work in future? If I do so, will my job and the income from this job be halaal or haraam? What should I do?