Various masaail of trade

Q: I paid less than I should have when I went to the supermarket a few months ago due to an error in their checkout system. I messaged their customer service online on the day and they said “Thank you for your honesty. There's nothing much we can do about it at here at Customer Services but if you do wish to get rid of the difference you can return to the store and speak with the Customer Service desk.”

Am I sinful if I don’t go back and return the difference? I’m not 100% sure if I still have the receipt.

Q: I am inquiring in regards to business items I purchased from a supplier on a loan at a Business Expo. We had a mutual agreement to pay for the items on a later date. The supplier had provided me with his contact details to pay him back.

I had lost the suppliers number and cannot locate the person which I got the business items from. Also, I tried going to the Business Expo next year but the person did not come back the next year. I have tried going there for the past 4 years at the expo and the person has not come there. I am not sure if he has any relatives or friends either.

Please advise what I can do in regards to the money I owe him.

Q: 3 Companies were invited to construct a building. They were invited which would mean that they are all of equal stature. We were all in by the client prior to the tender closing and where the client advised us of his needs. We received the tender results but were advised a few days later that all three prices were too high for the client. I asked asked if we could assist and negotiate with the client to lower our price to come in line with the client. We were then advised that the client had negotiated with the company that had the highest price. It is common knowledge that the client and this contractor are friends and possibly family. Is this Nepotism and is this allowed in Islam.

Q: I would like to know more about Bay'as Salam and how I can use this to make my dropshipping business halaal?

When a customer places an order, the supplier ships the product directly to the customer. You pay the supplier the wholesale cost of the product, and you keep the difference between the wholesale cost and the retail price as your profit. In a Salam contract, the buyer and seller agree on the price, quantity, and delivery date of the product. The seller receives the price of the product in advance, providing them with the necessary funds to produce the product. The buyer then takes delivery of the product at the agreed-upon future date. I would like to know if the above information provided on salam will allow me to use it in the dropshipping context as mentioned in the first paragraph.

Q: If I purchase a car from someone but did not take possession of it till now from that individual and in his absence I say with intention that “I do not want the car”. Do I lose ownership rights over the vehicle on making that statement when I was yet to take possession of it or can I still claim it under the purchase agreement I made with him originally since I’m the new owner and the statement does not count as such which will render the transaction void?

Q: What is the ruling of Shari’ah in regard to a person who is in financial constraints and people (e.g. his creditors) take advantage of his situation? They are well aware that due to his situation, if they offer him an extremely low price for his goods, he will accept due to his desperation and sell it to them. An item worth R50 will easily be sold to them for R5. Is it permissible for them to ‘squeeze’ him in this manner, due to which they will get much more money from him than he actually owes them?

Q: In a business dealing, person A purchases a product online from person B and sells it to Person C without seeing the item. Is it permissible?

So instead of person B sending the item to person A, he will send it straight to Person C. It is 2 different transactions as person A will pay person B for the item and will sell it for a different price to person C.

So is it allowed for person A to get the item sent straight to person C or should he receive it himself then send it.

Q: Is it permissible to purchase from a shop that is Christian, meaning that it is called Christian Arts and some items sold have biblical quotes. However some items have words like “Be Grateful” and are not biblical. Please advise.

Q: Is Forex trading halaal?

Q: There is a website called freelancer.com , where a person can hire graphics designers, website designers and the like, to do work for him. One option available is called a contest, where one posts ones requirements and the price he will pay, the money is charged by the website, then various graphics designers who want to offer their services (optionally) create mock ups / designs which the person can then choose between. Sometimes over 50 different designs are made. The person then chooses the one he likes the most. The website transfers the money to that designer, together with taking a small percentage fee for using their platform. The one designer who's design was chosen, will be paid. The remainder who's designs weren't chosen, and had voluntarily posted designs in the hope of winning the contest, get paid nothing. Is this type of contest / ijaarah permissible?