Sale of goods not in possession
| Fatwa #2391 | Category: Business & Trade | Country: South Africa | Date: 21st July 2026 |
| Fatwa #2391 | Date: 21st July 2026 |
| Category: Business & Trade | |
| Country: South Africa | |
Question
Asalamualykum, hope MuftiSaheb is well.
Many times people sell goods on their whatsapp status , like for eg. a musalla is advertised for R200. Then when you message that person he/she says okay I will see if the supplier has stock or I’m getting it from the supplier next week.
My question is that won’t that be a sale before actuall ownership of the item , because it’s being advertised before getting it from the supplier ? Or is it fine ?
(Sometimes you only pay the person when they give you the item after , I’m not sure if the seller then uses from that same money to pay the supplier or the supplier gets paid already before, sometimes you have to pay first the money then I’m sure the seller uses from that same money to pay the supplier and takes the remainder as profit).
If it’s fine no problem, but if this whole scenario is not permissible what will be the status of the sales made and what should a person do ?
Jazak Allah Khairan
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In principle, one cannot sell what they do not own nor possess either physically or constructively. In the enquired situation, if the seller does not possess the item of sale, they should advertise it as ‘available soon’ or ‘taking orders’ or ‘pre-orders’. In any case, advertising something for sale and actually selling is two different things. One may advertise something they do not possess, however they cannot effect a sale of goods they do not possess.
If an item is advertised for sale, then when prompted for stock the seller informs that he will only receive the stock soon, then payment made before receipt of goods will be treated as a deposit and an advance and will be an amaanah in the hands of the seller. Once the seller receives stock, then the actual sale will occur.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Bilal Pandor
Concurred by
Mufti Muhammad Patel
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia