What is the ruling on a company purchasing quantities of clothing and food items wholesale and leaving them with stores, then selling coupons to customers to buy them at reduced prices? And what is the ruling on an employee marketing these coupons for a commission, given that the company stipulates that the employee must first purchase the coupons before marketing them?

The jurists agree that it is not permissible to sell food exchanged for something else before taking possession of it. The Malikis and Hanbalis permitted it for selling clothes, but as for food, it is not permissible to sell it before taking possession of it. However, if the partnership contract for food is a Salam contract for food described in detail and existing as a liability, and then the company enters into another Salam contract with customers, intending to deliver to them from the food it has already contracted for, then this appears to be permissible according to the Shafi'i school. As for the described marketing system, it is not permissible because the company requires the agent to purchase some coupons in order to work in marketing.