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Fatwa CenterTrade and business conditions and prerequisites
Question
Tell me about in detail the Islamic business and trade. Not even one aspect is to be left.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Actually it is hard for us to explain in detail the rulings on trading (business) since this issue is too extensive and ramified to cover in such a place. This topic is among the widest branches of Islamic Jurisprudence.
Nevertheless, we may highlight the following points which may be of some benefit for our dear inquirer. For more details on this topic, you may refer to the books of Jurisprudence.
Lexically, trading means to exchange. Trading is permissible according to the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of Muslim scholars.
Allah Says (what means): {But Allaah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest.}[Quran 2:275]. Besides, the Prophet said: “The best food ever that a person eats is that which he earns by (working with) his own hands, and every sale (lawful commercial transaction) is blessed.” [Ahmad]
Also, the Ummah (Muslim nation) unanimously agreed upon the permissibility of trading since the time of the Prophet until today.
The two conditions of trading are offer and acceptance. It is accomplished by the consent of two parties (buyer and seller) in terms of offer and exchange.
The prerequisites of trading are of two categories. The first of these is concerning the contractors (the two parties of the trading process), namely, the condition of puberty.
The second is relevant to the material being exchanged or purchased, namely; its purity, usefulness, the ownership (i.e., it should be actually owned by the seller), the ability to be submitted to the recipient, and knowing its descriptions.
The item being traded should necessarily be pure, since the Prophet said: "Verily Allaah has prohibited selling dead (cattle, animals, etc.), pigs, and idols". People said: “O Allaah's Prophet! What about the grease of the dead animal, by which we may coat ships, smoothen skins and fuel our lamps (lanterns)?” He said, "No, it is prohibited." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
It is also a condition that the traded item completely belongs to the seller. The owner may also authorize someone else to sell a certain belonging. The material being traded should also be conveniently submitted to the buyer. Fish in the river or birds in the sky, for example, cannot be sold.
The sold material and its price should be clearly stated and known to both parties: the seller and the buyer. Only when these conditions are met and prohibitions are evaded, that commerce can be valid. For more details, please check the books of Jurisprudence.
Allaah Knows best.
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