Thursday | 28 March 2024 | 17 Ramadhan 1445

Fatwa Answer

Question ID: 1262 Category: Dealings and Transactions
Questions Regarding Financial Matters

Assalamualaikum Respected Muftis,

1.) Is it permissible to purchase stocks (Employee Stock Purchase Plan) with Equifax, Experian, or Transunion? These three companies are the major credit bureaus in the United States and I want to know as an employee of any of these three companies, is it permissible for me to buy stock in these companies?

2.) I send my brother money back in Pakistan to spend on his wife and children and himself every month for the past 10 years and I continue to do so. He does not want to look for a job because he makes excuses that he will not work for little money and is always searching for short cuts or jobs with high pays and that is why he has been jobless for so long. He is mentally and physically in excellent health but refuses to work to support his family. Is this money I send to him to support him and his family considered Sadaqa or Sadaqa Jaariya?  

3.) Can you please tell me what kinds of Sadaqa Jaariya can I invest in during my life in this world? 

JazakAllah Khair.

 الجواب وباللہ التوفیق

Wherever the stock market system is established, it usually consists of interest-bearing transactions, so it is not permissible. However, it is allowed with certain conditions which are as follows:

(1) The company whose shares are being bought and sold does physically exist and is not only registered on paper.

(2) Total assets of the company must not only be in the form of cash but be also static (immovable assets) in the ownership of that company.

(3) The total or at least most of the capital of the company is halal.

(4) The real business of the company should be lawful and does not involve in the business of haram things and activities.

(5) In buying and selling of shares, all the conditions of buying and selling shall be closely observed. (For example: after buying the shares, they should be fully owned by the buyer, only then they are allowed to be sold further. The shares should not be sold before the buyer's ownership is completed and before the acquisition. Fictitious purchase and sale should not be done.

(6) If the company conducts interest-based transactions, it should be avoided. Voice should be raised against it in the annual company meeting, rejecting validity of interest transactions, so it be abandoned.

(7) When the profit is distributed, then the part of the profit earned from the interest deposit should be given as a charity but without intention of reward.

Explore information about the company whose shares are to be bought. If it meets the above conditions, it will be permissible to 

buy and sell its shares, otherwise it will not be allowed. However, avoidance is better.

Your sending money to your brother is a charity. In Shaa Allah if done with sincerity, you will be rewarded in the hereafter.

In the same way, if your brother spends the money you send for the education and training of his children, it will become an ongoing charity, God willing.

One of the forms of charity is to educate and train one's children properly. One such form is to sponsor the education and training of one's brother's children, to take care of the memorization of the Qur’an of children in a madrassa.

If water is needed in a place, water supply should be started by installing borewells or digging wells, or building a madrassa or a mosque, etc.

At the same time, keep on persuading your brother that the responsibility of providing sustenance to the wife and children is the basic obligation and duty on the husband.  Therefore, it is better to take even a low paying job as soon as possible than staying lazy and doing nothing at home. It is a great shame and embarrassment for him and his wife and children to be relying on someone else for their livelihood and seeing the head of the house wasting time at home.  Sometimes, for the aspiration of getting a high paying job, life just goes on in waste, causing depression, and the person does not remain capable of doing anything useful. Try to instill in your brother’s mind above advice so that he can develop a positive attitude in life.   

قال رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : لا تبع ما لیس عندک ۔(سنن ابی داؤد :۲؍۴۹۵)

قولہ تعالیٰ: احل اللہ البیع وحرم الربوا (البقرہ: ۲۷۵)

إِذَا مَاتَ الْإِنْسَانُ انْقَطَعَ عَنْهُ عَمَلُهُ إِلَّا مِنْ ثَلَاثَةٍ: إِلَّا مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ جَارِيَةٍ، أَوْ عِلْمٍ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ، أَوْ وَلَدٍ صَالِحٍ يَدْعُو لَهُ (صحیح مسلم : ۱۶۳۱)

عن الحسن بن علی رضی اللہ عنھما قال: حفظت  فی رسول اللہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم :

دع ما یریبک الی ما یریبک (سنن الترمذی: ۲۵۱۸)

’ولا الی من بینھما ولاد ........ وفی حاشیۃ قید بالولاد لجوازہ لبقیۃ الأقارب کالا خوۃ والأعمام والأخوال الفقراء بل ھم اولیٰ  لأنہ صلۃ وصدقۃ وفی الظھیریۃ:یبدا فی الصدقات بالاقارب ثم الموالی ثم الجیران (رد المحتار ؍۲۶۴ ، باب المصرف)

فقط واللہ اعلم بالصواب

Question ID: 1262 Category: Dealings and Transactions