The ruling on selling goods that are deceptive or whose appearance is beautified

The Shaykh : Fear Allah.

The questioner : If Allah wills, it will be made easy for you.

The Shaykh : If Allah wills.

The questioner : May Allah assist you, O our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Okay.

The questioner : In the central vegetable market, the wholesale market, in Zarqa.

The Shaykh : In Zarqa.

The questioner : We have a shop.

The Shaykh : In the city.

The questioner : Commission, not in Zarqa, but in the wholesale market.

The Shaykh : Okay.

The questioner : Shaykh, the question that confuses me is that, for example, goods come to us that are deceptive, like a cucumber that is good on the bottom and bad on top.

The Shaykh : And they do the same.

The questioner : And the tomatoes are the same, of course. This comes from the farms, yes. We are in the business of buying and selling. Is it forbidden for us in this matter, meaning, for us to buy them?

The Shaykh : If you buy it with its defect, it is not forbidden for you. But if you beautify the goods as their appearance is beautified, you are partners with the deceivers. Do you understand my answer?

The questioner : I mean, if a box comes, for example, with a cucumber that is good on the bottom and small on top, do you mean you have to turn it over, meaning, for the sake of...

The Shaykh : I say if it remains with its defect, you are free of blame. But if you turn it over, it is certainly better, meaning, if you make the top the bottom, every time I look, I find it better. This is what merchants do not do. But the solution is to sell it with its defect, as it is.

The questioner : I mean, sell it as it comes to me.

The Shaykh : Not just by implication. By explicit statement.

The questioner : I mean, you have to tell him, "Look how it is from the bottom; this one is big on top and deceptive, with a small one." You have to be frank with this statement. It is not that we have, I mean, the vegetable buyer who buys has been in the market for a long time, a very long time. He takes and buys and sells and knows, of course, he returns to buy. They have... This is a thing, I mean, the one who comes to buy knows, for example, that he is sitting there. I mean, do you understand? He does not need someone to look. It is not that, Shaykh, the buyer... I mean, when I go to buy in retail, how does the seller who buys in wholesale to sell to people himself search for what he knows, what he buys? He is sitting there, I mean, not that he comes and looks at this picture, that the cucumber is small and from the bottom big, and that is it, okay. No, but now, for example, they have apples, Shaykh, deceptive. The good, nice bunch is on the face, and the bottom is from whatever came. I went in yesterday to his box, he said, "I am searching for you," he said, "I want to show you which one from inside is cleaner." Any one, Shaykh, who buys looks, mostly the merchants are like this, Shaykh. They do not buy blindly, I mean. Of course, some of them turn it over and look and inspect and know. But, I mean, Shaykh, is it reasonable that, for example, a car of tomatoes comes, for example, four hundred boxes, and it is deceptive. You are a merchant, you want, I mean, you want to sell, you want, I mean, to come and turn it over and inspect them.

The Shaykh : No, we are not saying we buy it. We are saying this is better. We are not buying it. But the condition is that you do not mislead the buyer with this appearance that is beautified on top and ruined on the bottom. Do not mislead the buyer. The buyer might be a simple man, like in my story,

The questioner : Yes, he comes with signs of someone who is cleaning his house, something.

The Shaykh : Yes, that is it. He is deceived by the appearance. So here, you have to advise and you have to remind. But a graduate like your friend Abu Layla, he does not need a reminder.

The questioner : How are you?

The Shaykh : No, he is, I mean, this.

The questioner : He scratches, he does not dig.

The Shaykh : Oh, we are surprised. Shaykh, the second point is the issue of the auction, so that, Shaykh, no one of you sells on a sale, my brother. The one who is, for example. No, the auction has no relation to this. I mean, for example, you want to sell, you hold the car, for example, at half a dinar, and they bid against each other until it reaches, for example, a dinar. There is no problem, provided there is no... Bidding to cause harm. Harm, yes, do you understand me? No, that is known, I mean, it is clearly forbidden. Yes, there is no objection.