Sale or hire

Question

Question: Zayd took from Amr a twenty-metre bolt of cloth on the condition: “Whatever I sell of it, I will pay you its price at your purchase cost, adding a profit of one anna (a coin worth 1/16 of a rupee) per rupee, and whatever cloth remains of this bolt I will return.” Amr accepted this. Then Zayd took this cloth and sold five metres of it; Amr had bought this cloth at four rupees a metre; thus Zayd gave Amr, for the five metres together with the profit, 21.25 rupees, and gave back the cloth that remained.

Answer

This transaction is not a sale: Amr is not a seller and Zayd is not a buyer; rather, it is a hire (ijara). It is as if Amr said to Zayd: “Sell this cloth of mine.” Zayd takes the cloth, goes off, finds a customer and sells the cloth.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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