Buying and Selling e-books and digital images
Question:-
Can Mufti please explain the reason for an item to be tangible in order to sell it? Please provide proofs or references?
Does that mean if something is intangible, you can’t buy or sell it?
So, can you buy e-books? And can you sell e-books that you bought or downloaded?
Can you sell an e-book that you wrote?
Can you sell digital inanimate images?
If you can’t, then please explain why not, with references.
Answer:-
The jurists have written that the following conditions should be met in regards to the goods of merchandise:
- The goods of sale should be present (in its physical form).
- It must be possible to hand over the goods that are being sold.
- The goods should be wealth that holds value.
In the case of e-books or digital pictures, the items are not present in their physical form, nor is it possible for the seller to hand the goods over to the buyer, nor can these items be classified as wealth that hold value, hence, the sale of such items will not be permissible in Shariah.
Hereunder we have listed the proofs:
الْفَصْلُ الْأَوَّلُ : فِي حَقِّ شُرُوطِ الْمَبِيعِ وَأَوْصَافِهِ
(الْمَادَّةُ 197) : يَلْزَمُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمَبِيعُ مَوْجُودًا.
(الْمَادَّةُ 198) : يَلْزَمُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمَبِيعُ مَقْدُورَ التَّسْلِيمِ
(الْمَادَّةُ 199) : يَلْزَمُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الْمَبِيعُ مَالًا مُتَقَوِّمًا (المجلة ص40)
Notwithstanding the above, if a person spends time and resources to set up a website that facilitates the downloading of e-books and digital pictures, it will be permissible for him to charge a nominal admin fee for access (via a password etc.) to the website and service that he is providing, on condition that the e-books do not contain impermissible content and the digital pictures do not feature animate objects.
In conclusion, he can charge a fee for the service that he provides, but he cannot sell the e-books or digital pictures.
ALLAH TA’ALA KNOWS BEST!
ANSWERED BY:
Mufti Mohammed Desai
Date: 12 Safar 1444 / 09 September 2022