28.1.1 GOODS AND SERVICES

All transactions are permitted unless there is specific prohibition. Individual ownership of property is a basic human right. Community ownership is allowed for some property. Governments and companies are legal persons with rights of individual ownership. All articles are halaal for commercial transactions unless specifically prohibited. The following articles cannot be bought or sold in normal commercial transactions: intoxicants, khamr; pictures, idols, humans, dead animals, dogs, pigs, semen of animals, and stolen property. Knowledge cannot be sold but teachers, authors and publishers sell their labor and costs of materials. The buyer a book has full rights to use of the knowledge including teaching it to others for a fee. He however canot reproduce and resell the book. Halaal services can be sought and can be offered for a fixed fee. It is prohibited to seek, pay for, or offer haram services. Rights are a form of intangible property that can be bought and sold. Debts can be bought, sold or transferred. Inheritance rights cannot be sold. Scales and measures are used to specifiy amounts of goods in transactions. The seller is responsible for measuring but the buyer has a right to verify before they separate. A trader is free to sell at profit, murabahat; at cost, tawliyat; or below cost, wadhi’at. Bargaining, musawamat, is allowed. The Law does not interfere in the operations of the free market unless there is exploitation or immoral effects are feared. The Law does not mandate price control. It however requires that action be taken to ensure that unfair practices of hoarding and monopoly do not arise. Monopoly can be allowed if it is in the public interest.

28.1.2 CONTRACTS

A contract may be oral or written. A contract document should specify that this is the complete and final agreement. An enforceable contract must have 3 elements: an offer, an acceptance, and consideration (mutuality of obligations). A valid contract may not be enforceable because of illegal contract terms, use of duress or undue influence to conclude the contract, fraud or misrepresentation, lack of capacity or competence to contract, mistakes, or impossibility of conditions that are referred to as acts of God. Two conditions and 2 sales are not allowed in one contract to avoid misunderstandings. If a contract is faasid, transfer of ownership is not valid and goods as well as the money must be returned. The customary price is assumed if the contract does not specify one. The physician-patient relation is a type of contract whose breach will trigger negligence or malpractice suits. Health insurance and other aspects of managed care involve contractual obligations.

28.1.4 CONDITIONS OF A VALID TRANSACTION

Business transactions should be written and witnessed. No condition repugnant to the Law is permitted in the contract. Ownership must be transferred as soon as possible. Any transaction can be cancelled before separation. The buyer has the right to return defective goods. Any gain or loss is the responsibility of the buyer during the period when goods can be returned. Arbitration, al sulh, is used in disputes.

22.1.4 TYPES OF TRANSACTIONS

The following transactions are permitted: barter; advance payment for goods, salam; purchase on credit, nasiiat; auction, muzayadat; sale of an absent article, ghararat; and sale on commission. The following transactions are forbidden to remove uncertainties, to assure fair play, and to prevent cheating: sale of agricultural produce before maturity, paying a pre-fixed price for goods chosen when blinded, closing eyes the buyers and sellers, pre-arrangement between the auctioneer and a false buyer to raise prices, selling on top of a brother’s sale, selling fur while still on the animal, selling sadaqat before it is received, buying an animal while it is still in utero, selling milk in udders, selling fish while still in water, combining 2 transactions in one transaction, selling what is not in possession, combining a loan and a sale, sale of a non-refundable deposit, buying and selling on the spot without taking possession of the goods, and selling debt for debt. Riba transactions are forbidden. The recipient of riba, the giver, the writer, the witness, the legalizer, and for whom it is legalized all commit an sin. Riba has more than 70 types such as riba al nasii at and riba al fadhl. Riba can be camouflaged as a legitimate transaction such by selling on credit and buying the goods back at less than the credit price or by changing a debt to a sale with an increase. It is permitted to quote the price of goods in one currency and receive payment in another currency provided payment is immediate and in full.

28.1.5 ETIQUETTE OF THE MARKET

A dua is said on entering the market. All transactions must be suspended for salat. Transactions should be written and witnessed. Generosity, leniency, and full disclosure should be observed. Swearing, raising the voice, and hoarding are forbidden. Brokerage and middlemen are allowed