Respected Mufti sb,
Assalamu ‘Alaikum. Hope you are in good health by the grace of Allah swt. I wanted to ask whether selling our products on Amazon is halal, given the fact that Amazon is involved in business contacts with organizations that are complicit in human rights violations like the Israeli Defense Forces. Israel has also selected Amazon Web Services for a $ 1 billion plus project to deliver a public cloud infrastructure for the country’s government ministries and defense forces.
Secondly, I would have to source (buy ) my products from Alibaba, a Chinese tech company, and then send it to Amazon to sell. There are reports that Alibaba’s website allows it’s clients to use its software to detect the faces of Uighur Muslims and as we are aware Chinese government is brutally torturing the Uighur Muslims in the indoctrination camps.
So is doing business on Amazon and sourcing our products from Alibaba halal? Also, this was confusing for me as we are not directly involved in the persecution of Muslims.
Jazak Allahu Khairan
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب وباللہ التوفیق
If your products are legitimate and you sell those after buying them from Alibaba website, then this business will be legitimate. But it is not permissible to sell without taking possession.
Note that if you do not have the product but buy and send it to your customer after securing order through online showing to your customers, that kind of business scenario is not permissible. The Holy Prophet (SAW) has forbidden sale of non-existent product. which you do not own.
But if you specify to your customers that the product is not yet owned but will be provided at a certain price after buying and possessing it and then you take genuinely practical steps in line with your statement such a deal will therefore be permissible.
Another permissible business transaction would be to take the order, deliver the desired item to the buyer by procuring through another website or company and setting a fixed renumeration for this brokerage for buying and selling those goods.
اماالذي نہی عنہ النبي ﷺ فہو الطعام أن یباع حتی یقبض ، قال ابن عباس : ولا أحسب کلّ شيء إلا مثلہ ‘‘ ۔
(صحیح بخاری :باب بیع الطعام قبل أن یقبض وبیع ما لیس عندک ، ۲۱۳۵
فیحرم بیع کل شيء قبل قبضہ طعامًا کان أو غیرہ ۔ (فتح الملہم، باب بطلان بیع المبیع قبل القبض ،۱؍۳۵۰،
لا یصح بیع المنقول قبل قبضہ لنہیہ علیہ السلام عن بیع ما لم یقبض ، ولأن فیہ غرر انفساخ العقد علی اعتبار الہلاک ۔(مجمع الانہر : باب البیعالفاسدم ۳ /۱۱۳
عن حکیم بن حزام -رضي اﷲ عنہ- قال: نہاني رسول اﷲ ﷺ أن أبیع مالیس عندي۔ (سنن الترمذي، البیوع، باب ماجاء في کراہیۃ بیع ما لیس عندک، ۱۲۳۳
ومنها في المبيع وهو أن يكون موجودا فلا ينعقد بيع المعدوم وما له خطر العدم …وأن يكون مملوكا في نفسه وأن يكون ملك البائع فيما يبيعه لنفسه .(فتاویٰ ہندیہ:
فقط واللہ اعلم بالصواب