Deceiving customers at till point
Question
The shop has a computer system whereby the selling pricing is captured and set on the computer. Sometimes the salesperson manually increases the saved selling price by R10 – R20 more when scanning items to accommodate for losses due to theft. Is this allowed and permissible in business?
Answer
Deceiving the customer is Haraam. The income derived from the sale is Haraam, hence it is necessary to locate the customers that were deceived and return their monies to them. The shopkeeper is only entitled to keep the amount marked on the shelf.
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
عَنْ أَبِي الْحَمْرَاءِ، قَالَ: مَرَّ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِرَجُلٍ عِنْدَهُ طَعَامٌ فِي وِعَاءٍ فَأَدْخَلَ يَدَهُ فِيهِ فَقَالَ: غَشَشْتَهُ، مَنْ غَشَّنَا فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا (مسند ابن ابي شيبة ص233 ج2)
ألا إن الصدق والبر في الجنة، ألا إن الكذب والفجور في النار (مسند احمد ص187 ج1)
- Answered by
- Mufti Mohammed Desai
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