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)