Am I Allowed to Sell Products that Have Unislamic Names?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I want to ask for advice on buying and selling one particular item. I intend to sell the items of a beauty product company through a third-party supplier. Although all of their products appear to be okay and halal, there is one product on the manufacturer’s list with a name that sounds like a ‘shirk.’ However, my supplier does not deal with that product and with that name in their stock and only offers me fine and halal products from the manufacturer.
I’m only interested in halal products because of my religious views. Is it okay to continue to sell halal products only via my supplier?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health.
Yes, it would be permissible for you to buy and sell beauty products of this nature.
The one product you are worried about, you say, has a name that seems to generate an understanding of association with Allah (shirk). One does not have to worry about that particular product, as you cannot include it in your stock buying. The product is for the broader market, including non-Muslims, and conscious and practicing Muslims will want to avoid buying it.
Acts are judged by their goals and purpose. Here most of the products are of permissible nature, and some of them being impermissible will not make the buying impermissible. [Ali Nadwi, Al-Qawaid al-Fiqhiyya]
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I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.