Calculating the weight of the bag as part of the weight of the meat
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Fatwa number ( 20071 )
Q: I own a retail meat shop (a butcher shop). In reality, I have encountered confusion regarding the weighing process, and Allah alone knows that I seek nothing but His noble Face. My trade is clean and bound by all the rulings of the Shari'ah. My problem is that I own an electronic scale with a minimum weight accuracy of 5 grams. We sell the meat on paper designated for it; the price of this paper is 35 DJ (Algerian dinars) per 1 kg. We then cut it into several pieces, where the weight of a single sheet ranges from 85 g to 20 g. 1 kg of paper costs the same, 35 DJ. 1 kg of paper equals 35 sheets (each weighing 20 g). When we sell the meat, the price of 1 kg is 4.20 DJ, and of course, we use a sheet of paper with this meat. The issue lies here during the process of weighing the meat with the paper: the price of the paper becomes like the price of the meat, meaning 1 kg of paper = 4.20 DJ. Let us perform a simple calculation: 1 kg of paper equals 50 sheets. The price of 1 kg of paper at purchase is 35 DJ, which equals 5.75 DJ per sheet. The price of 1 kg of paper after the weighing process is 4.20 DJ, which equals 840 DJ per sheet. The catastrophe here is the purchase price of the paper
0.70 DZ, and its selling price is 0.84 DZ. Please note that we use small plastic bags, the cost of one is 0.50 DZ, and larger ones, the cost of one is 1 DZ, with every sale. Guide us, may Allah have mercy on you. If we sell the meat without this paper, we lose the cost of the paper. If we sell it with the paper, we have violated the Shari'ah. Please note also that I started this work about two years ago. If we had raised [children] and the heavens and the earth were not pleased that our flesh grow from illicit earnings, if that is the case, how do we purify this money if it has been mixed with what is forbidden? There is another issue: in our town, we have competing merchants, but they do not fear Allah. They sell goat meat as if it were lamb meat. As you know, after the slaughtering process, goat and lamb cannot be distinguished. They sell the meat at a price lower than ours. What is the punishment for one who does this in the religion of Islam?
A: What was mentioned in the question regarding considering the weight of the paper as included in the weight of the meat, and the fact that the difference is significant, and selling goat meat as lamb meat, all of this is deception and fraud, and misleading the buyers. It is forbidden in the pure Shari'ah. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:188] , and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 2225Da'if (Darussalam) .
Q: I own a retail meat shop (a butcher shop). In reality, I have encountered confusion regarding the weighing process, and Allah alone knows that I seek nothing but His noble Face. My trade is clean and bound by all the rulings of the Shari'ah. My problem is that I own an electronic scale with a minimum weight accuracy of 5 grams. We sell the meat on paper designated for it; the price of this paper is 35 DJ (Algerian dinars) per 1 kg. We then cut it into several pieces, where the weight of a single sheet ranges from 85 g to 20 g. 1 kg of paper costs the same, 35 DJ. 1 kg of paper equals 35 sheets (each weighing 20 g). When we sell the meat, the price of 1 kg is 4.20 DJ, and of course, we use a sheet of paper with this meat. The issue lies here during the process of weighing the meat with the paper: the price of the paper becomes like the price of the meat, meaning 1 kg of paper = 4.20 DJ. Let us perform a simple calculation: 1 kg of paper equals 50 sheets. The price of 1 kg of paper at purchase is 35 DJ, which equals 5.75 DJ per sheet. The price of 1 kg of paper after the weighing process is 4.20 DJ, which equals 840 DJ per sheet. The catastrophe here is the purchase price of the paper
0.70 DZ, and its selling price is 0.84 DZ. Please note that we use small plastic bags, the cost of one is 0.50 DZ, and larger ones, the cost of one is 1 DZ, with every sale. Guide us, may Allah have mercy on you. If we sell the meat without this paper, we lose the cost of the paper. If we sell it with the paper, we have violated the Shari'ah. Please note also that I started this work about two years ago. If we had raised [children] and the heavens and the earth were not pleased that our flesh grow from illicit earnings, if that is the case, how do we purify this money if it has been mixed with what is forbidden? There is another issue: in our town, we have competing merchants, but they do not fear Allah. They sell goat meat as if it were lamb meat. As you know, after the slaughtering process, goat and lamb cannot be distinguished. They sell the meat at a price lower than ours. What is the punishment for one who does this in the religion of Islam?
A: What was mentioned in the question regarding considering the weight of the paper as included in the weight of the meat, and the fact that the difference is significant, and selling goat meat as lamb meat, all of this is deception and fraud, and misleading the buyers. It is forbidden in the pure Shari'ah. Allah the Exalted said:
And do not consume one another's wealth unjustly
وَلاَ تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُمْ بَيْنَكُمْ بِالْبَاطِلِWhoever cheats us is not one of us.
من غشنا فليس منا
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.