Business and Dealings

Q: My question is that "freelance work is allowed in Islam or not?" Let me tell you the details. I have signed the contract with my company and in my contract it is mentioned that I cant work for any other company until unless I have written permission from the CEO of the company. Now I got one freelance project which probably I will do after my office timing at my home so my office work will not be effected with this. But sometime I also do work in my free time in the office using office machines. As in the start of Surah Maidah is " 'O believers! Fulfil your promises" so on that I guess I can't but I have still confusion. In the end, if I am doing this, I will earn with my work and one of my friends told me this kind of contract is similar to slavery and slavery is not allowed in Islam, so you can violate that contract. Kindly help me out in this as soon as possible.

Q:

1. Once, a shopkeeper made a mistake and gave me extra change. I was going to return the extra change, but for some reason, I did not. Is it now a debt and should I return the difference?

2. If they refuse to take the money, how should I clear it?

3. If the shopkeeper dies, how should I repay it?

Q: About three years ago, I sent my phone for repairs. When I went to fetch it, they told me that they could not repair it, so I did not pay them. However, when I tried the phone, it worked. Do I now need to pay them?

Q: My elder sister because of no children she was living with me instead of her husband since last about 45 years. She went entitled to draw pension amount of his husband after his death since last 05 years. In July 2015 she got Mouth Cancer and for proper treatment I brought her from Village to Karachi (Pakistan) city. To share the expenses she handed over me her Pension Book. To draw the pension from Village Post Office I handed over that Book to my relative Mr ZAID's family and told them to draw the pension on monthly basis and please enter in a separate note book to keep the record. I may ask to send me or whenever I shall visit the village I may collect the same from you. In March 2016 my elder sister passed away. After her death Mr ZAID informed me that I have donated all the amount to a village Mosque Trust. I asked him that why he did so without my permission as the amount belonged to me. He said that your late sister during her life has instructed me to do so. Mufti Sahab after all this, a few questions are in my mind please guide me in this regard.

1. How should I trust ZAID's statement because he failed to inform me about my sister's Instruction for donation of this amount during her life to confirm the same from my elder sister which is impossible after her death?

2. Whether Mr ZAID was entitled to utilize that amount which was left amaanat with her family. In my opinion he is khaain. Is it correct?

3. Whether my late sister was allowed to instruct about that amount which she has already handed over to me and allowed me to utilize that amount?

Q: I have been asked a question by someone of the following matter. Just setting out the case. The person needing the advice is a businessman who is dealing with an agent of another party. The agent comes with a tender to provide in bulk an item for the third party. By agreement the businessman tells the agent of the third party that he will give him 7.5 percent commission on the amount of the bulk. In order to give the 7.5 percent commission, the businessman inflates his usual price of the item in order to incorporate the 7.5 commission i.e if the businessman would usually sell an item for R10 000 he would now quote the price as R10 750 so that the agent of the third party can get the commission of R750 from the businessman . The way in which this works is that the agent will get the quotation approved to the amount of R10 750 and get the cheque to that amount of which he will give R10 000 to the businessman and will retain the R750 for himself and the goods will then be supplied. Bare in mind that the businessman still only makes an actual invoice of R10 000 and the transaction takes place only between the businessman and the agent of the 3rd party in which the 3rd parties information is not disclosed to the businessman. Is such business practice permissible? If not, what is the way forward in keeping this business relationship, again baring in mind that if the businessman does not give any incentive to the agent the agent will no longer transact with the businessman and together with that the businessman does want to lose out on the profit based on his normal prices and hence inflates the price to provide an incentive to the agent of the third party. I am an academic and I need more insight on the islamic perspective and permissibility of such a case and what is the best course to follow.

Q: I had purchased a computer from a shop. There are a few software which are not genuine. They are pirated version like windows etc. So is it permissible to use such software? We use this computer for our work, so will our income be lawful?

Q: Can the mahr (in this case the wedding ring) given to the bride be sold by the bride due to financial strains?

Q: I sell decal stickers for a living. I take logos of different brands from the internet and print them as decal stickers. Is that allowed for me?

Q: I have a friend who is opening a relaxing and rejuvenation spa. He has asked me to invest in it. Will the income from the spa be halaal? The therapist working there will be females.

Q: Is medical aid and hospital plans permissible. In our town we have a government hospital and a private hospital. The government hospital's services to the sick is free and at private hospitals the fees are exorbitant starting at around one hundred thousand. I have never been on medical aid. In the past year I have become sick and now have serious medical conditions. I visited the private doctor recently and he diagnosed that my kidneys are failing. The doctors could not further attend to me or operate as I have no money to pay nor medical aid. They are requesting around seventy thousand rand from me for a start. If I don't do the operation, my kidneys will fail and the result is death. I cannot go to the government hospitals as many people who had operations at these hospitals came out worse than they were before they went in. A friend of mine had leg pains and went to the government hospital and had an operation done. When he came out he walked on crutches till he died and claimed that the hospital destroyed his legs as the government hospitals have young doctors from third world countries. Another friend had a pain in his foot. He also went to the government hospital and they operated on his feet. When he came out he couldn't walk for years as his feet were worse and he could not bend his toes at all. He had to sit on a chair for Salaah. I am worried if I go the same way as they have done, I will be more sick than I am and if I had medical aid then I could have used it to go to private hospitals. Please advise.