Selling price-controlled goods at a higher price and making a profit

Question

Question: Zayd is a merchant and has a grain shop. Nowadays grain is sold under control (at the state price), but not every individual gets it; and if Zayd buys grain elsewhere and has it brought, there is a danger of arrest, since the government has announced that no one may bring more than twenty kilograms.

Answer

If Zayd buys grain from the controlled-price shop and sells it at the ordinary rate, it is permissible in the Shari‘a. Yes, if it is not allowed to give anyone more than the fixed quantity, then giving more is a legal offence. In reality ‘Umar is not the owner of this grain; the owner is the government, and ‘Umar is the trustee (amin)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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