The Shariʿa status of goodwill (a business name)

Question

Question: There is a bookshop named “Rahmaniyya Library”; orders for books come from distant places. Two brothers own this shop, Rahmaniyya Library; Rahmaniyya Library was founded by the father of both brothers. Now this shop is to be divided between them. The stock, that is, the books, will be divided according to the law of the Islamic Shariʿa, but the matter of the name remains. Therefore we ask your honour: what is the status of goodwill, that is, the name, in the Islamic Shariʿa?

Answer

Goodwill, that is, the name, is in reality not property (mal); rather it is in the position of a customary standing, which has no value. Whatever status the law has given it, it has not given it by taking a fatwa according to the Shariʿa. Therefore let this matter be settled by mutual consent.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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