What is the ruling on price fixing?
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The questioner : ... that some merchants agree to sell a commodity; such that the value of the commodity is five riyals, and they all agree to sell it for fifty riyals; what is the ruling on that?
The Shaykh : This agreement is not permissible; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan al-Bayhaqi 5:452, so it is not permissible to agree to raise prices. Rather, it is not permissible for the state to agree to unify prices except in certain circumstances. Otherwise, it has come in the authentic hadith that some of the Companions said: O Messenger of Allah, set prices for us. He said: Sunan Ibn Majah 2200Sahih (Darussalam); so what do you say if the people among the merchants agree to exploit people and overcharge in the prices of their goods.
The Shaykh : This agreement is not permissible; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Let people be left to earn their livelihood from one another
دعوا الناس يرزقُ بعضهم من بعضIndeed Allah is the Musa'ir
إنَّ الله هو المسعِّر
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.