This presentation discusses the Islamic laws or regulations put by Islam in order to protect consumer rights. These are actually overall rules which can be imposed in any business.
3. Contents
• Consumer protection in Islam
• Sources of consumer protection law in Islam
• Five objectives of Shariyyah
• Enforcement of consumer protection in Islam
• Legal maxims in determining rules for consumer protection
• Institution of Hisba in consumer protection
• Conclusion
4. Consumer Protection in Islam
Himayat al mustahlik
• Arabic word for consumer protection
• Not described specifically in Islam
• Laws are provided in liability, contracts, deception, uncertainty,
hoarding, law of option and ombudsman(mohtasib)
5. Sources of Consumer Protection Law in
Islam
• Quran
• Sunnah
Normative practices of Holy Prophet (S.A.W)
• Ijma (consensus)
Agreement of Muslim scholars
• Qiyas
Analogical reasoning to deduction of juridical principles from Quran and
Sunnah
6. Five Objectives of Shariyyah
• Protection of faith (hifz al deen)
• Protection of life (hifz al nafs)
• Protection of property (hifz al mal)
• Protection of posterity (hifz al nasl)
• Protection of reason (hifz al aqal)
7. Islamic Laws in Consumer protection
1. Forbiddance
Haram
• Any product or service that can harm consumer
• Not according to objectives of Shariyya (protection of reason,
property and life)
Forbidden goods or services
• Alcohol
• Blood, pig, dead animals and carnivores meat
• Stolen items, bribery, gharar and riba
8. 2. Adulteration, Frauds, false labelling, etc
• Honesty and truthfulness in business dealings
• Condemnation & prohibition of dishonesty, fraud & betrayal of trust
occur in more than 19 verses of Quran
Hadith:
‘‘He who defrauds does not belong to us’’
9. 3. False Measure
• Command of exactitude in weights and measures
• In Surah mutaffifin, Allah has prophesied that people who
give false measure would be in the list of prisoners on the
day of judgement:
‘‘No! indeed the record of wicked is in Sijeen’’
• The Madyan people were ultimately destroyed for using
improper weights and measures
10. 4. Uncertainty (Gharar)
• Contracts dealing with future commodities of undefined nature
• Applies to an occurrence about which parties are unaware of
• A product whose quantum is unknown
E.g.
• Sales of fish in water
• Fruit of trees at beginning of season when the quality can not be
established
11. 5. Consentment
• Transaction is considered legal if made through mutual consent
• Seller can not charge extra amount without consent of consumer
12. 6. Price Regulation
• No compulsion of selling at fix price
Hadith
"It is Allah (s.w.t.) who regulates prices, who gives shortage as well
as abundance, and who gives sustenance“
• Discouragement of all measures causing price-hike
13. Conti…
• Enforcement when there is hoarding and price manipulation
• Farmers and craftsmen are excepted in this regard
• Profiteering is illegal
• Selling goods at different rates than market is disliked
14. Conti…
• Prohibition of not selling demanded goods while increasing
inventories
• Right to increase prices in supply shocks
15. 7. Refunding
Khiyar (option )
Permission to consumer to return goods within three days
Hadith
‘‘Whoever accepts back what he had sold to a Muslim, Allah will forgive
his faults’’
16. • Interference in business matter is not absolute
An Islamic state is:
• Not authorised to tax indirectly
• Not resort to custom barriers, restrictive tariff or exchange control
• Must not impose taxes on potential consumer
to protect industrialization
Enforcement of Consumer Protection in Islamic
State
17. An Islamic state must
• Adapt policies for protection of consumer rights
• Establish proper check and balance system
• Take serious action against Ribba (interest)
• Make good business relations with other nations
Conti…
18. Conti…
• Stop hoarding, monopolies, corner markets
• Ensure supply of goods at cheap prices during crisis
• Power to restrict economic freedom in case of supply shock
• Power to force selling surplus stock at equivalent price, thus restricting
inflated prices
19. Legal Maxims in Determining Rules for
Consumer Protection
• Matters are determined according to intentions
Hadith
‘‘Indeed all actions are based on the intentions’’
E.g.
• Intention of gaining faster profit by cheating or misbehaving
• Intentional adulteration
20. • Custom is arbitrary
Dispute between consumer and trader must resolved intermediary
• Certainty is not displayed by doubt
Doubt can not be removed if matter has strong evidence
Right of consumer must be preserved if trader found guilty with strong
evidence
21. Institution of Hisba and Consumer
Protection
Hisba
• A system to ensure the righteousness of individual in their conduct
• Fully authorized to take cognizance in any type of commercial activity
when it violates basic rights of consumers
Head of hisba
• Muhtasib
• Vezir
• Kadi (qazi)
22. Authority of Muhtasib
• Powers are not absolute
• Limited with establishment of socio-economic justice
• To keep an eye on merchants conduct and honesty
• To take notice of market imperfections: practice of interception of
goods before they reach to market
• Not authorised to prescribe prices
23. Conclusion
Though consumer protection term is not specifically described in Islam.
All the teachings of Holy Quran and sunnah provide us detailed and
clear guideline and principles on consumer protection. Islam heavily
emphasize on socio-economic justice system and gives equal rights to
consumer as well as traders and manufacturers
