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Selling PlayStation to non-Muslims

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Publication : 04-06-2011

Views : 18203

Question

I live in New York and I run an online business that sells Playstation portables and its accessories. I saw on your site the ruling on selling playstations, and am wondering what is the ruling on selling it to a Kafir, and what is the ruling on selling its accessories such as memory cards, headphones, and protection cases?.

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly: 

There is no differentiation between Muslims and non-Muslims when it comes to that which it is haraam to sell and deal in. Everything that it is not permissible to sell to a Muslim, it is not permissible to sell it to a kaafir either. 

That is because the rulings of sharee‘ah are also addressed to the kuffaar, according to the correct scholarly view; everything that is obligatory for the Muslims to do is also obligatory for the kuffaar, and everything that is forbidden to Muslims is also forbidden to them. 

Al-Haafiz Wali al-Deen al-‘Iraaqi said: The correct view, which is that of the scholars and the majority is that the rules of sharee‘ah are also addressed to the kuffaar, so silk is forbidden to them as it is forbidden to the Muslims. End quote.

Tarh al-Tathreeb, 3/227 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: It is not permissible for a man to help anyone in disobeying Allah, even if the one who is being helped does not believe that it is a sin, such as helping the disbelievers with alcohol and pork. End quote.

Al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 6/282 

The Shaafa‘i faqeeh Ibn Hajar al-Haytami was asked about the ruling on selling musk to a kaafir whom he knows is buying it to apply to his idol, or selling an animal to a harbi (a non-Muslim who is in a state of war with Muslims) who he knows is going to kill it without slaughtering it properly in order to eat it. 

He replied: It is haraam to sell in both cases. In every case where the seller knows that the buyer is going to use (the item) for sinful purposes, it is haraam for him to sell it to him. Applying perfume to idols and killing animals for food without slaughtering them properly are two major sins even for them, because the correct view is that the rules of sharee‘ah are addressed to the kuffaar just as they are addressed to the Muslims. So it is not permissible to help anyone with them by selling anything that may help them to do those things. End quote from al-Fataawa al-Fiqhiyyah al-Kubra, 5/43 

See also the answer to question no. 42564 

Secondly: 

The ruling on selling accessories for PlayStation is the same as the ruling on selling PlayStation itself. It is permissible to sell it to a person who you think is most likely to use the PlayStation in permissible ways, and it is haraam to sell it to a person who you think is most likely to use it in haraam ways. 

If you do not know anything about the purchaser, then you should proceed on the basis of how most people use it in the country where you live. If most people use it in haraam ways, then it is haraam to sell it, and if most people use it in permissible ways, then it is permissible to sell it. It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (13/109): Everything that is used in haraam ways, or it is thought most likely that that is the case, it is haraam to manufacture it, import it, or distribute it among the Muslims. End quote. 

See also the answer to questions no. 2898, 97681 and 39744

And Allah knows best.

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Source: Islam Q&A