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Is selling land halal or haram?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Darulifta-Deoband.com
My mother & her 4 sisters own a land inherited from their father. They have been looking for a buyer for the price of 400 thousand, that’s the best price multiple authorized land experts estimated the land for. I have good connections & if I give time & work, I could get buyers for a higher price (might sell it up to 750 thousand). But I was not willing to get into all that trouble & work to only get the commission normal land brokers get (which is 1%) because I can get that same commission without any trouble simply by selling it for their price.
(1) Is it halal? (because it would be more profit for her & for them all if I sell it for a higher price) My mother suggested that I get a buyer example for 700 thousand and get legal authorization to sell from all the land owners (her sisters) & sell the land between me & the buyer separately & give them 600 thousand & take 100 thousand for my work & time without her sisters knowing. (The reason I can’t make that agreement with all of them is, they all love money so much & will not agree I take as much as 100 thousand & the problem is, I can’t try telling them without knowing for sure whether they’d agree or not because then if they refuse, they’ll hate me all my life for not doing it for free to benefit them, after they know I can. So I can’t let my aunts hate me because they’re my (rehem). Also I can’t leave everything I’m doing & work on selling for a higher price for a small amount of money).
(2) I have another suggestion if its halal? Can I have a separate agreement with the buyer who is willing to buy it (for example 600 thousand) that if I get him a lower price I get 50% of the discount I get. (ie; if I get him the land for 400 thousand then I get 50% of the discount which is a 100 thousand).
(3) If both suggestions are haram, please give me the halal way to best benefit from this sale & make use of my contacts & time. Note: I don’t need proof from Hadith Sharif or Ayat mentioned in order to obey your respected fatwa. Simply haram or halal is an enough answer for me to obey because most important is I get a quick reply within a week or so before it all ends. Please reply as soon as possible.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

(Fatwa: 806/1131/L=10/1439)

Your position is like an agent and it is allowable for an agent to fix his fees and charge it. If you serve as an agent from buyer side then you are allowed to fix your fees from him. However, in this condition you should bring the buyer to your mother and aunts and let them (the buyer and your aunts) finalize the dealing themselves. However, you could serve as a medium of communication from both the sides and when the dealing is finalized between them then it shall be allowable for you to take your fees from the buyer. It should be noted that it will not be lawful for you to deal in a way that you will keep what is more than 600 thousand with you or deal while keeping your mother or aunts uninformed.

لو سعى الدلال بينهما وباع المالك بنفسه ينظر إلى المعرف إن كانت الدلالة على البائع فعليه وإن كانت على المشتري فعليه وإن كانت عليهما فعليهما (شرح منظومه ابن وهبان: 2/78)

Allah knows Best!

Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband

This answer was collected from the official ifta website of Darul Uloom Deoband in India.

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