Ruling on Inflating Prices and Being Deceitful in Order to Gain Customers

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Questions asked to Shaykh ‘Abdur-Rahmaan bin ‘Abdullah al-‘Ajlaan [May Allaah Preserve him]
Former Member of Permanent Committee of Senior Scholars, Saudi Arabia
Teacher in Masjid al-Haram in Makkah al-Mukarramah since 1410/1989

Question:  I rent a car and I live in a hotel. The hotel receptionist gets me customers who need a lift to the airport for a fee of 200 Saudi Riyals. I accept these customers and I run this part-time taxi service on a condition that the receptionist takes 50 Riyals without the customer knowing. What is the ruling on this?

Answer: No, my brother, is not permissible. Consult yourself and ask you heart. This is deception for the customer because you have agreed a price with him but you’ve taken this money and split it amongst yourselves. The passenger doesn’t know the true price so by doing this the receptionist is deceiving him by saying it will cost you 200 Riyal but in actual fact, it doesn’t. So he agrees, therefore you have deceived him. If the true price is 150 Riyal but you take 200 Riyal then you have assisted in this deception, you have taken from his wealth and this extra payment is not permissible for you.

 

It is for the Muslim to Fear Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted, and not to earn anything and include in his wealth which is Haraam for himself. This is because if anything Haraam enters into your wealth then your entire wealth will become tainted and it could even destroy it altogether.

 

It could even be that due to this small amount of profit and gain, your entire wealth will be ruined because of your deception, without you even realizing it. Had you explained the truth from the beginning to the customer then you would have been protected from all of these reservations.

 

So it is upon the Muslim fear Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted, and not to deceive his Muslim brother or assist in doing so. Some people do these types of things and they claim that they have not taken anything except what was his due right and I am helping someone who is poor (i.e. the receptionist). However, you can’t have the right to take peoples wealth whilst being deceitful and/or assisting in deception. Therefore, doing this is not permissible for you.

[Sharh ‘Iddah Baahith Fee Ahkaam al-Muwaarith, tape 228, 37mins-40mins]