Fatwa ID: 02326

Answered by: Ustadha Umm Abdullah

Question:

Assalamu alaikum,

I write from Germany and have following question:
In AqdulIjara it is obligatory to determine the fee/charge of the ijara. Also it is obligatory to determine the "manfaat", e.g. the benefit, which sometimes could be determined by duration and sometimes by the work, which is needed or wanted.

Now, if my car has a defect or a damage, there occurs a difficulty if I want to act according to the rules mentioned above. Because, the mechanic initially doesn't know what kind of defect the car has and also he doesn't know if it is needed to change some car paarts. Therefore it is impossible that he mentions a fee or even a duration. This leads that both parts cannot agree on a determined price and work. Please could you help in this matter? How would this problem be solved? Jazakallahu khairan katheeran.

Answer

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Generally speaking the mechanic would initially locate and diagnose the problem of the car for a set fee or at times free of charge.

Hence here the ‘work’ has been specified meaning locating the issue and if there is a fee for the diagnosis that too would be mentioned before commencing the check.Therefore making this ‘aqdul-ijarah’ valid.

Thereafter the mechanic would usually inform the owner about the problem and what work is required to repair it. This also is usually provided with a quote.

It will then be up to the owner to accept the second ‘aqdul-ijarah’ or to decline.

Again here the ‘work’ which is required would be mentioned along with the fee required for the repairing of the car.[1]

Hence in both scenarios the fee (Ujrat) and the benefit (Manfaat) are determined.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Molana Eunus Ali

Darul Ifta Birmingham.

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah