Q. I read a fatwa on the IslamOnline website concerning buying products of the Goldquest company, which makes such dealing permissible. I thought that such trading could not be acceptable from the Islamic point of view. Please comment.
Tumkur Khan
A. The Goldquest business relies on tempting customers with a prospect of making money, but the temptation is largely inaccurate. It sells a product at a much higher price than its market value, with a promise that if the customer finds ten new customers who buy the same product from the company, he would recoup his investment. Finding more customers ensures that he makes a profit. I have answered questions on this sort of business, making clear that it is unacceptable in Islam, because it involves a large measure of deception. It makes the customer a sales representative of the company without paying him any wages. He will only recoup what he had paid for an overpriced product that he might not need in the first place. These new customers will also fall in the same trap.
I have looked at the fatwa on the website mentioned. I can say that the question as put does not properly clarify the situation to enable the scholar issuing the fatwa to give a proper understanding of the problem. Moreover, the scholar made the proviso that the deal should not involve any deception, misrepresentation, false impressions, etc. “because in Islam, business deals must be made on the basis of complete openness and trust.” In the Goldquest business, there is much that is deliberately kept secret and much that is untrue to the customer’s trust. Hence, this sort of dealing is not permissible in Islam.