Is it permissible to purchase goods confiscated by the customs authority from merchants who brought them in through illicit means, and is it permissible for another merchant to buy these goods if the first purchaser wishes to sell them?

The customs duties imposed by the state on Muslim merchants arriving with goods from other countries are divided into two categories:

1. Lawful: If they are in exchange for services provided to merchants or for a public need that the state's resources cannot meet, provided that they do not harm the merchants and there is no negligence in public funds. In this case, merchants must adhere to them, and evasion is not permissible. The state may punish the evader in a manner appropriate to their situation and deter others, without selling their goods.

2. Unlawful: If they are imposed for reasons other than services or a public need. In this case, merchants may evade them if they can, and if the state becomes aware of the evader and confiscates their property, it is an usurper and an oppressor.

As for purchasing goods confiscated by the state, it is absolutely impermissible, whether from customs or from those who bought them from customs. This applies to goods confiscated in both of the aforementioned categories.