The ruling on brokerage (dalala)

Question

Question: One form of brokerage is that the seller and the buyer each separately promise Zayd some sum. For example, the seller said: “If you get our fruit sold for one hundred rupees, we will give you five rupees,” and the buyer said: “If you get this fruit bought for us for one hundred and five rupees, we will give you five rupees.” So the broker received five rupees each from both the seller and the buyer, and besides that he received another five out of the one hundred and five.

Answer

If the broker buys for one hundred rupees and sells for one hundred and five rupees, this is permissible; but in that case he has made only a profit of five rupees, and this is not a form of brokerage. Brokerage (dalala) is that a transaction between the seller and the buyer is arranged; in it both the seller and the buyer know the price (thaman)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.