Ask Qul - QA
Question : #413 Category: Sale / Purchase
Subject: Selling greater than cost
Question: Salaam. Is it haraam to sell a thing more expensive than you've bought it. For exaple if i buy a jacket for 8 dollars and then decides to sell it do i hve to sell it for the exact amount that i purchased it or can i sell it for like 10 dollars.
Answer: Islam allows commerce as mentioned in the Holy Quran (2:275), so to sell at a higher cost in order to make a profit is allowed.

This said, the commodity which is sold, and the thing which is received in exchange should fulfill five conditions:

1. Its quantity should be known by means of weight or measure or counting etc.

2. It should be transferable, otherwise the deal will be void, except when a transferable object is supplemented to it. But if the buyer can himself manage to find the thing he has bought, even if the seller is unable to hand it over, the deal will be valid.

For example, if a person sells a horse which has run away, and the buyer can find it, the transaction will be valid, and there will be no need to supplement it with any transferable object.

3. Those details of the commodity, and the thing accepted in exchange, which influence the minds of the people in deciding about the transaction, must be clearly described.

4. The ownership should be unconditional, in a manner that, once it is out of his ownership, he foresakes all his rights over it.

5. The seller should sell the commodity itself and not its profit. Hence, if he sells one year's profit of a house, it will not be in order. But, if a buyer gives profit of his property in exchange, like, if he buys a carpet from someone and in lieu thereof gives him the profit of his house for one year, there is no harm in it.

If you require further clarification on this answer, please use the feature to respond to the stated answer.
Copyright © 2024 Qul. All Rights Reserved.
Developed by B19 Design.