I need further guidance on how to implement this fatwa # 18510 and I would like your feedback about the following approach:
Since the stocks were given to me little by little over a span of nine years of employment and there were wide fluctuations in price over that period, I cannot use a single initial market value as suggested by the fatwā. Thus, I went to the web to find the stock history over that period in order to compute an average price for the stock over this time span. The stock history that I found on the web contained the stock prices for March, June, September, and December of each year for all the nine years of my employment. I took the average of the stock price for all these data points, to give me a rough average price for the nine-year period.
This leads me to the following two questions:
- Would it be valid to use this nine-year average stock price as an estimate of what the employer owes me?
- If so, what should I do if the stock price today is greater than the nine-year average price? Should I give away the difference to a charitable cause without the intention of earning reward (thawāb)?
In the name of Allāh, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalāmu ῾alaykum wa Rahmatullāhi Wabarakātuh
First, you should determine in which months you received stocks for each of the nine years. Thereafter, you should calculate the value of the stock of each year according to the closest month’s documented stock price (which you found online).
For example, if you were given stock in February of the year 2000 and in July of 2001, then you will calculate the value of the stock given to you in February 2000 by using the March 2000 stock value and the stock given to you in July 2001 by using the June 2001 price.
Similarly, you will do this for all the remaining years and add the total value together. This will be a more accurate calculation of the stock value than taking a nine-year average. Out of precaution, you may assume the actual amount of money owed to you by the company to be a little less than the calculated amount.
When you “sell” the stock (with the intention of transferring the company’s debt owed to you, as explained in the original fatwā),
- If the current stock value is less than the amount owed to you, you should first make an intention to forgive the difference in the money you will receive and the debt owed to you. Thereafter, you may “sell” the stock for the current market value.
- If the current stock value is more than the amount owed to you, then you should donate the extra amount you received to the poor and the needy without the intention of thawāb.
However, if it is possible for you to “sell” the stock for the exact amount owed to you by the company, then you should do so, irrespective of the current market value.
And Allāh Ta῾āla Knows Best
Wassalāmu ῾alaykum
Mufti Abrar Mirza, (Chicago, US)
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Dārul Iftā, Madrasah In῾āmiyyah