Prices must be stipulated before concluding a sale
Question
A Muslim owned coffee shop and bakery also sells frozen samoosas, pies, and a host of pastries. None of their products are marked with the selling price. Is this permitted in Islam? The English bylaw says that, “The price you see is the price you pay.” Please comment.
Answer
The price of all the items must be stipulated on the coffee shop menu or a board in the store, so that the customer is fully aware of the price before concluding the purchase, or else the transaction will be a corrupt transaction in terms of Shariah due to the price being unknown. Yes, if the customer is informed of the price of each item when ordering and before concluding the sale, then transacting in this manner is also in order. However, generally customers are not informed of the price of each item in a coffee shop when ordering which then results in the transaction being corrupt.
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
(الْمَادَّةُ 237) تَسْمِيَةُ الثَّمَنِ حِينَ الْبَيْعِ لَازِمَةٌ فَلَوْ بَاعَ بِدُونِ تَسْمِيَةِ ثَمَنٍ كَانَ الْبَيْعُ فَاسِدًا.
(الْمَادَّةُ 238) يَلْزَمُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الثَّمَنُ مَعْلُومًا
(الْمَادَّةُ 239) إذَا كَانَ الثَّمَنُ حَاضِرًا فَالْعِلْمُ بِهِ يَحْصُلُ بِمُشَاهَدَتِهِ وَالْإِشَارَةِ إلَيْهِ وَإِذَا كَانَ غَائِبًا يَحْصُلُ بِبَيَانِ مِقْدَارِهِ وَوَصْفِهِ. (مجلة الاحكام ص49)
- Answered by
- Mufti Mohammed Desai
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