Working as an intermediary between businessmen and his company in return for payment
Question I work in a petroleum company as a normal clerk. Some businessmen have offered me to work as a mediator between them and the company I work for. Knowing that I do not work in the section of purchasing, and I do not have any effect on making decisions in this company. Some purchasing…
Question
What is the Islamic ruling on this trading transaction?.
Praise be to Allah.
If you do not work in the purchasing department and you have
no influence on decisions about dealings and purchases, then there is
nothing wrong with you working as an intermediary between the businessmen
and the company, because the basic principle is that it is permissible for a
person to work as a broker in return for a set fee or for a percentage of
the goods bought and sold, according to the agreement.
But that is conditional upon the goods and projects being
things that are not forbidden according to sharee’ah.
But if a person’s work involves negotiating or dealing with
these people, if he has some influence of the decisions that are made, then
he has no right to take anything in return for his work, because he will be
focusing on his own interests and not looking at the interests of the
company for which he works, al-Bukhaari (7174) and Muslim (1832) narrated
that Abu Humayd al-Saa’idi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) appointed a man from Bani
Asad who was called Ibn al-Lutbiyyah to collect zakaah. When he came he
said: This is for you, and this was given to me (as a gift). The Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood up on the
minbar and praised and glorified Allaah, and said: “What is the matter with
an agent whom I send, and he comes back and says, ‘This is for you and this
was given to me’? Why doesn’t he sit in the house of his father or the house
of his mother and see if he is given anything or not? By the One in Whose
hand is the soul of Muhammad, no one of you gets anything from it
(unlawfully), but he will bring it on the Day of Resurrection, carrying it
on his neck, whether it is a groaning camel, a lowing cow or a bleating
sheep.” Then he raised his arms until we saw the whiteness of his armpits,
then he said: “O Allaah, have I conveyed (the message)?” three times.
It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (13/131): It
is permissible for the broker to take a set percentage of the price for
which the goods are sold in return for finding buyers, and he may take it
from the seller or the buyer according to the agreement, without any
unfairness or harm. End quote.
See also the answer to question no.
66146
And Allaah knows best.
