Laws of trade
Mufti Abu Muhammad Ali Asghar Attari Madani
Selling clothing with Images?
Question: Is it permissible to wear, clothe children with, and sell items of clothing that bear images of living things?
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
Answer: It is not permissible to wear, clothe children with, or sell clothing that features an image of a living thing when the image is so large that if it is placed on the floor, its face can be clearly seen whilst standing. However, if its face is removed by some means then it is permissible to wear, clothe children with, and sell such items of clothing.
Answering a similar question, A’la Hadrat Imam-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat Maulana Shah Imam Ahmad Raza Khan رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه stated, ‘If there is an image of a living thing in which its face is present and it is so large that its limbs can be clearly discerned when placed on the floor and looked at whilst standing, then it will be impermissible to wear, clothe somebody, sell, and gift such clothing. It is prohibitively disliked (Makruh Tahreemi) to pray Salah in such attire, and it will be necessary to repeat the Salah.
If the image is removed from such clothing or if its head or face is completely erased, then wearing it, clothing somebody in it, selling it, gifting it, and praying Salah in it will all be permissible. If it is made from a dark colour which cannot be removed nor washed away, then an equally dark ink should be placed on its head or face in such a way that the limbs are completely removed It is not enough that the limb only appears to be black but is remains discernible, because this is not tantamount to removing it. (Fatawa Razawiyyah, vol. 24, p. 567)
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
Buying and selling honeybees?
Question: Is it permissible to buy and sell honeybees?
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
Answer: It is permissible to buy and sell honeybees. According to Imam Muhammad رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه, buying and selling honeybees is permissible, and Hanafi jurists have confirmed this opinion.
It is stated in Fatawa Aalamgiri:
وقال محمد رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه يجوز إذا كان مجموعا كذا فی الحاوی بيع النحل يجوز عند محمد رَحِمَه الله و عَلَيْه الفتوى كذا فی الغياثية
Imam Muhammad رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه opined that it is permissible to buy and sell honeybees in groups. Similarly, it is stated in Al-Haawi that it is permissible to buy and sell honeybees, and the legal verdict is given on this. The same is confirmed in Al-Ghiyasiyyah. (Fatawa Hindiyyah, vol. 3, p. 114)
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
Workers taking old parts from Jobs?
Question: As a plumber, my jobs often involve replacing old parts with new ones. Can I keep the old parts?
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
Answer: You can only take that which the owner willingly gives you himself. It is not permissible to take anything without the permission of the owner. However, certain old parts that are typically discarded have a different ruling. Nevertheless, but caution in this dictates that even if you think something would be thrown away, you should still take permission from the owner. As long as an item remains in the owner’s house, it cannot come under the ruling of something that has been thrown away. There will still be a strong doubt regarding even the smallest of things, as it is possible that the owner wishes to utilise it or that he will not be happy if somebody was to take his belongings.
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
Clearing in trade?
Question: A retailer, Zayd, purchased £50,000 worth of fabric from a supplier, Bakr, on credit. Later, the same supplier purchased £35,000 worth of goods on credit from the retailer. Both of these transactions involved different types of goods. When the time for repayment came, the retailer deducted £35,000 from the £50,000 he owed and repaid the remaining £15,000 to the supplier. Is this a permissible transaction?
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
Answer: This is a permissible way to repay the debt and is referred to as ‘clearing’ (Muqassah) in Islam. As long as prohibiting factors are not found, it is permissible to utilise this approach to clear debts in a range of scenarios.
Sadr-ush-Shari’ah, Badr-ut-Tareeqah, ‘Allamah Maulana Mufti Muhammad Amjad Ali A’zami رَحْمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْه elaborated on this: ‘One person owes someone 15 rupees. Thereafter, the debtor sells a gold coin to the creditor for 15 rupees and utilises Muqassah between the goods and his debt, i.e. he exchanges them, saying, ‘This gold coin worth 15 rupees is in exchange for the 15 rupees which I owed you;’ it is valid to do this. (Bahar-e-Shari’at, vol. 2, p. 828)
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
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