Business and Dealings

Q: I wanted to know the Share'ee ruling on "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" deals that many merchants offer in their stores. 

For example, buy 1 case of water, get 1 free. Or buy 1 cellular line and get 1 free. These are offers that are conditional on a purchase of 1 item at least. They're usually incentives to get the customer to buy them for various reasons (they want to remove the item from their shelves, or it's a sales/marketing strategy, or simply a competitive deal in a free market). Is such a deal permissible for the buyer, or is this considered riba? 

Another type of deal that's similar is buying a certain quantity to get a better deal than buying 1. For example, 1kg of tomatoes is RS 50 but 2 KG is 40 (a savings of RS 10). Is such a deal permissible for the buyer?

Q: I have recently heard of a new venture many of our Muslims are going into, it is the trading of gold on the forex market. I wanted to find out if it is permissible and if so then how, as no physical exchange of ownership takes place, and also if you own an item although it can depreciate in value it won't cease to exist as is what happens on this gold market.

Q: What is a salam transaction and the Shar’ee ruling that relates to it?

Q: We paid a worker at the airport desk to put us first and send our luggage which were overweight. Is it a sin and does it fall under bribery?

Q: I work as a manager for a Muslim man who at times stretches the time of his employees if it gets busy or is attending to personal work. He does not compensate them for extra time, and when the topic is brought up, he angrily dismisses it and says, "You are just standing doing nothing, so it’s not work." But I feel as long as they are in the shop, they are working, as they are not free to do as they like. What should I do ?

Q: I have a furniture and appliance store where we sell and fix furniture and appliances. 

Can I fix and sell TV's? Would the money be permissible to use in my business and life

Q: Is designing and selling colouring books halal provided that there's no animate objects and no haraam elements in it?

Q: If a shop owner purchases items with murat (animate pictures) and/or female pictures on the packaging, sells these products and advertises them, will he be sinful? 

If we should be covering these things, please can Hadhrat Mufti Saheb advise how.

Q: Please advise regarding below: 

There is a group/consortium that allows you to join them for an admin fee of R1000 a month. 

The benefit of joining them is that once you are affiliated with them, you get extra discounts from the suppliers with whom they have negotiated better rates for all those who are affiliated with them. 

Thus, when I go to any supplier, I just need to mention to him that I am part of this group, and they will give me a 5% or 10% discount due to me being a member of the group. 

The benefit of a member is that the group has better buying power and can negotiate better rates which later assist the members of the group. 

Besides these discounts negotiated on behalf of the group, they do not provide advertising or any other services to any of the members. Is this arrangement permissible?

Q: A deposit of R4800 was given when a one year lease was signed. About three months after that, the lock on the sliding door was broken on a Saturday night, a locksmith was called and a quotation was given of R3070 to replace the lock because the locksmith did not have the correct lock with him, he only opened the broken lock, I was told only the next morning what happened, I suggested that a separate lock must be used on the front gate to secure the place and R3070 is much to spend on the replacing the broken lock. Now after 6 months the tenant decides to move out, from the R4800 deposit, R2800 was for commission for getting a new tenant, (this was in the lease agreement). I informed the tenant I will replace the broken lock. The total cost of it was R1000. The tenant was willing to pay the R3070 initially, must I reimburse the tenant the R1000 or must I claim the R2070 from them.