What is the ruling on dealing with a telecommunications company that offers 8 hours of calls, 500 messages, and 1 GB of internet monthly for a specific price, with the condition of paying an additional amount for the first activation, and renewing it monthly with the rollover of remaining hours from the previous month; is this considered among the gharar (excessive uncertainty) prohibited by Sharia?
The transaction mentioned falls under the category of a permissible rental contract (ijarah) in Islamic law, due to the absence of influential ambiguity (gharar) that would invalidate it. Both the usufruct (benefit) and the rent are known. The amount paid to activate the service is considered part of the rent. The forfeiture of the subscriber's right to benefit from some of the services if they are not utilized within a certain period does not affect the contract, because their non-utilization was by their own choice, and the rent becomes due upon the expiry of the period, whether they benefited from it or not.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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