Fatwa ID: 03510
Answered by: Alimah Nasima Umm Hamza
Question
Assalamu alaikum,
How are you?
I was wondering if the following transaction is halal. I go to Best Buy and buy twenty laptops to resell. Best Buy tells me you are not allowed to resell our products. I tell them I am using it for personal use when in reality I am buying them to resell.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In The Name Of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
Answer:
It is important to note that informing the shop that you are buying for personal use while fully intending to buy them for resale is not permissible. This is because it involves lying and deception. Lying and deception is a sin.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
" إِنَّ الصِّدْقَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْبِرِّ، وَإِنَّ الْبِرَّ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ، وَإِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَصْدُقُ حَتَّى يَكُونَ صِدِّيقًا، وَإِنَّ الْكَذِبَ يَهْدِي إِلَى الْفُجُورِ، وَإِنَّ الْفُجُورَ يَهْدِي إِلَى النَّارِ، وَإِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيَكْذِبُ، حَتَّى يُكْتَبَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَذَّابًا "
"Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. And a man keeps on telling the truth until he becomes a truthful person. Falsehood leads to Al-Fajur (i.e. wickedness, evil-doing), and Al-Fajur (wickedness) leads to the (Hell) Fire, and a man may keep on telling lies till he is written before Allah, a liar."[1]
A man mentioned to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) that he was deceived in a business transaction, whereupon Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: “When you enter into a transaction, say: ‘There should be no attempt to deceive.’”[2]
Furthermore, a valid sale requires that the buyer of a product takes over complete ownership (milk) and can do whatever he wishes with the product (tasarruf) after the transaction is complete. Hence, if a condition is made that the seller can only use the product in a certain way or cannot resell it, then this will be considered as a bay’ faasid (corrupted sale).
However, this does not mean that the buyer can ignore the corrupting condition agreed at the time of sale. The conditions which were laid down and agreed by the seller and buyer before the transaction was completed, must be adhered to by both parties, even if they were faasid.[3]
Therefore, if you agreed to the condition of personal use, it would not be permitted for you to resell the item as a profit-making scheme.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Alimah Nasima Umm Hamza
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
[1] Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith Number 6094
[2] Sahih Muslim, Hadith Number 1533
[3] Ibn Abideen, Raddul Muhtaar, Volume 5, Page 8
