Is the work of the shopkeepers in Al-Hal Market in Raqqa, which involves taking a 5% commission from farmers in exchange for selling their produce, or 10% if they provide an advance to the farmer and stipulate that sales must be exclusively through them, or 5% on goods coming from outside the province, permissible or forbidden?

It is permissible for the shop owner to take a known and specified commission, such as one thousand [currency units], in exchange for the farmer utilizing the shop to sell his produce, because a lease requires knowledge of the compensation. It is not permissible to set the commission as a percentage of the sales price due to the presence of uncertainty (gharar), unless the sales prices are fixed or close to fixed, in which case it is permissible; because a slight amount of uncertainty is excused if there is a need for it and it is not intended for its own sake. However, taking an additional commission in the case of a loan is not permissible, rather it is usury (riba), because every loan that draws a benefit is usury.