Business and Dealings

Q: I am a student. I have few notes that are copyright and very expensive but  I have a copy of them. Can I sell copies at a low price as a lot of people are looking to buy them online and I need money for further studies?

Q: I am currently going to college for a chefs degree and I am often given to cook or handle wine pork and haraam beef. Is it allowed for me to do this?

Q: What does the verse of the Quran at 4:85 mean? One explanation I read says that if we vote for a candidate in election and he indulges in anti Islamic activities then we are also responsible before Allah.

Q: I want to buy a new laptop which is currently worth R6ooo, but I don’t have enough money. If I purchase it in instalments, it will cost R7800 over one year. Is this permissible?

Q: A certain person has a thriving clothing store. I want to open a clothing store where I will sell the same items as him. Also, I want to copy the method that he uses to sell his items. Is this fine?

Q: A partnership housed in a CC with 2 partners being equal members for a number of years running a retail businesses. Partner A and partner B. Partner A manages the warehouse and all store operations and staff and partner B manages purchasing of goods and finance and admin. The accounting works as follows. All monies are collected from stores and given to partner B. He then enters the receipt of money and credits the partnership. Partner B does all buying for the partnership as well as buying for his own stores which is owned by himself and for other stores which he supplies which are not part of the partnership. Partner B pays all suppliers as well as all expenses such as rental, wages, etc. Partner B purchases from suppliers in bulk supplies and invoices these goods to the partnership as well as the various other stores he supply’s. For the partnership, all payments off the partnership are paid by him. Once he has paid for expenses or goods of the partnership he invoices this out to the partnership. So an invoice will include payments he has made for goods purchased and supplied to the partnership and for expenses of the partnership that he has paid for such as wages rent etc.  All sales received from the stores are credited to the partnership in the books of of partner B when he receives it. All invoices for goods supplied are debited to the Partnership in the books of Partner B when he supplies it. All other Expenses such as rent wages etc are also debited in the same manner by Partner B. Thus the partnership will owe him money or he owing the partnership money at any given time based on the sales collected by him less the invoices he has issued to the partnership. The partnership has no creditors. The partnership is now splitting and the accounting being finalised were the sales collected by Partner B less the invoices made out to the Partnership by Partner B are being calculated to see how much is owed either to Partner B or from Partner B to the Partnership. During the partnership some 3 years ago Partner B was hijacked on route to pay suppliers and an amount of money was stolen from him. Partner B is now deducting 65% of that money stolen and claims this money belongs to the partnership and thus should be deducted. In the years from the hijacking to the split partner B has never told partner A that the money stolen was part of the partnership neither has he given him an amount. He has only brought it up now when the split has occurred as a deduction in the calculation. Will it be correct for him to deduct this money that was stolen he now claims 65% of which belongs to the Partnership?

Q: My wife and I assist with the cooking at functions for which we receive remuneration. At times, the functions are un-Islamic (engagements) and there is open violation of Shari’ah laws (e.g. intermingling of sexes). We are in no way involved with the function. We only assist with the cooking and kitchen. Is it permissible for us to assist with the cooking and is the money earned halaal?

Q: Can you do a business transaction with your spouse? E.g. the husband wants to buy a car. Can the wife pay for it and sell it to her husband with a profit on the sale of the car?

Q: An employment agency fee structure is as follows: As long as the employee works for the employer the agency will receive a percentage. Is this correct?

Q: I'm a 22 year old graduate student studying for my Master's in Physiology. I live in Cleveland, Ohio, USA and I was wondering if someone would be able to answer my question. I'm currently $124,000 in debt due to government loans, which charge interest. I was under the impression that under situations of necessity, the haram becomes halal, however I recently found out that the definition of "necessity" means life or death. I took out the loans so that I could complete my bachelor's and master's degrees. I'm planning on going to medical school in Fall 2014 and I will be required to take out even more loans (with interest). I found out that there's a military service program (HPSP - health professions scholarship program) for medical students in which the military will pay all tuition and fees, along with a monthly stipend, but will require 4 years of military service as payback. This will mean I will have to live without my family for months at a time. I'm planning on doing this program so that I do not have to take out further riba-based loans, and so that I can begin to pay off my current loan with my monthly stipend. However, there are other non-military programmes out there as well, but they will only forgive my loan after 10 years, which means I will be paying interest for at least 10 years. Also, there are some residency programmes that offer signing bonuses and partial loan forgiveness that might reduce the time required to pay off my debt to 3-5 years. Dropping out of medical school doesn't seem like a good option since I will end up paying the interest on my loan anyway. Any career besides medicine will most likely pay less, and thus take longer to pay off my loan (resulting in more interest). In the meantime, is there anything else I should do? I don't come from a wealthy family, and there are hardly any interest-free student loans offered for regular middle-class families. I guess, I can only keep asking for Allah's forgiveness and pray for a way out of this debt.

I'm sure there are many other Muslim students in America in my situation. I appreciate any answer.