Business and Dealings

Q: Is it permissible to buy vehicles which are repossessed by the bank from bank auctions?

Q: I live in America, and it is impossible to buy a house here without a mortgage from the bank. The bank charges interest on the mortgage. Is it permissible to buy a house on mortgage?

Q: I would like to know if a Muslim person can become a private investigator?

Q: Please assist help me understand the concept of helping someone to set up a business.

Scenario A:

Person A helps person B by lending the person R 10 000 for a business. Person A wants R 15 000 after 3 years (R 10 000 as capital and R 5 000 as profit). This is purely money lent to another person. Is this ribah?

Scenario B:

Person A buys a business for R 10 000 person B and then Person B pays off the R 10 000 (capital) + R 5000 (Profit) over 3 years. A business is bought and sold back to Person A. Is this Halaal?

Q: I would like to know that my child needs to go college next year but I would not be able to put up with all the cost because I have other children which go to private Islamic school. So I need to pay for their fees so is it allowed to get a student loan for the college child?

Q: Recently a customer came to our shop. In the customer comments book he wrote that we should close our shop during Jumuah time as mentioned in the Qur'an as Allah will give us barakah if we close our shop. Is this correct? Is it permissible to trade Jumuah time?

PS: No Muslim staff are at the shop during Jumuah time. They all go to perform their salaah.

Q: I have applied for a job at a company that installs industrial refrigeration systems (cold rooms, cooling for warehouses, etc.). My job would entail designing the system as well as overseeing the installation and repairs on site. I have found out that the clients include breweries as well as companies that would stock haraam meat products (certain fast food franchises and supermarkets). Based on the above please could Mufti Saab advise as follows: 1. Will it be permissible for me to take on such employment, or will it fall under the category of assisting in sin? 2. If the answer to the above is 'impermissible', will the ruling change if I am granted exclusion from working on the cold room that would store alcohol and other haraam products? 3. Any other info that Mufti Saab would feel relevant, as I would not always know what the cold room would be used for. Jazakallah for your time and effort, and please do remember us in your duas.

Q: Is it ok to run a hukkah parlour (shisha parlour)?

Q: Is a provident fund which is half collected from the employee’s salary and half deposited from the company/government on behalf of the employee permissible or is it regarded as interest? Is investing in a provident fund permissible?

Q: We had lived in Oman for about 3 years and during our stay we took a credit card and used it at times of emergency rather seeking help from our fraternity as everyone cannot help financially especially abroad. Therefore we took it and returned the amount within 52 days which prevented any interest. However we moved to China and due to meagre amount of cash we took the credit card with us as a backup because we were going to Pakistan and then to China. The process took longer than expected. We had used the card at the airport and did some other transactions however my mother kept 400 OMR separate from the rest amount. As mentioned earlier the process took very long so although we had the money and were fully prepared to keep it separate but we could not really return in within 52 days as my father was in China and was settling down there and in Pakistan without a male the survival becomes quite daunting due to some family issues. So now here we are with the card in China and have the money and have exceeded the time limit. I inquired before and was told by you that if we pay only the principle amount and not the interest we would not be punished by Allah. So now we want to send the money back. I emailed them but got no reply. I did whatever I could to get in contact with them but could not. So my dad was telling my mother to keep the money because every bank has insurance and after the time limit exceeds they put the name of the customer in another category where they only want to recover the main amount not the interest. So he suggested that start a business with the amount of money. She has approximately 1 hundred thousand rupees which is 1 lakh and then repay the amount to the bank, the major amount not the interest from the profit she will get. My dad is a business teacher and knows all about businesses. The following are my questions:

1) Is it permissible for her to start a business with the money she has and then return the money from the profit she will get?

2) We could not repay the money within 52 days but we intend to and have the money till now and have not used it and only will pay the major amount not the interest, so will we be punished by Allah?