Permissibility of Buying From Sellers Who Benefit From Forced Labour?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat 

Question

Is it haram to purchase things on Temu because they use Uygur for forced labor?

Answer

I pray you are well.

Purchasing something from such sites is in and of itself valid, but it is probably best to avoid it for ethical reasons.

As long as the buyer and seller in a transaction are happy with the product and the price, the sale is valid. (Maydani, Lubab) This does not, however, mean that one should pursue every purchase.

We can see from recent events that boycotting corporations that have unethical practices does have an effect. Such unethical practices – whether it is funding a genocide or forcing labor onto individuals – are frowned upon in the Shari’a. The Quran commands us to “Aid one another in all forms of good and Godfearingness, and don’t aid each other in sin and aggression.” (Quran. 5:2)

Based on this, it would be the highest moral practice to avoid purchasing from such organizations when possible and to pray for the removal of the oppression they have a hand in.

May Allah allow us to live by the highest ideals that please Him.

[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.