Assalamualaikum,
Dear Shaikh,
Recently, I wanted to buy some softwares. So, I searched for the seller of these softwares. And I have discovered that I can buy the genuine softwares from three sources:
1st Source: Directly from the company (Say, Company ABC).
or,
2nd Source: They are the retailers who collect the softwares from the company (SAY, Company ABC) and sell at a price almost as same as the 1st source.
or,
3rd Source: At first, the 1st source gives some units of software as a gift/at a lower price (than the 1st/2nd source’s usual price for the market) to some institutions. And subsequently these institutions find that they do not need all of the units they received as gifts/at a lower price. So, they sell these extra units of software to some retailes at a lower price than the 1st/2nd sources’ usual price for the market. Finally, these retailers sell these extra units to the final customers at a lower price than the 1st/2nd sources’ usual price for the market.
Now, my question is can I purchase the software from 3rd source at a price lower than the price of 1st and 2nd source?
Answer:
Wa ʿAlaykum Salām Wa Raḥmatullāh wa barakātuhu,
It will be permissible to purchase the software from the third source as they are the owners of what they are selling to you; hence, they may stipulate the price as they wish.
And Allaah Ta’aala knows best
Wassalaam,
Ismail Moosa (Mufti)