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Is the selling method that the inquirer follows on his website for electronic products, which relies on pre-charging a balance with the distributor and then deducting the price of the products from it upon sale, legitimate in light of the noble Prophetic Hadith that prohibits selling what one does not possess?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The aforementioned Hadith, "Do not sell what you do not possess," indicates the impermissibility for a person to sell what he does not own if the contract pertains to a specific, identifiable item. However, if the sale is for a described item held in obligation (in dhimma), with a specified delivery date and the price received at the time of the contract, then this is permissible and falls under the category of salam (forward) selling. Based on what is understood from the question, it is not permissible to sell the company's software to a client before acquiring it. One must first purchase the software and then sell it to those who desire it, or resort to salam selling by concluding a contract for a software program described in obligation, with the price paid and a delivery date specified. Alternatively, some scholars permit salam hal (immediate salam) without a specified term.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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