A nursery selling snacks to children too young to discern

A question about a nursery selling snacks to children too young to discern, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that, following the Hanbali school, a child too young to discern may buy and sell trivial items with the guardian's permission and within custom, though it is better for parents to send food or contract with the school's management. ¹

A father whose three-year-old attends a nursery that sells snacks to the children asked about this, noting that some schools hold that a non-discerning child's sales and purchases are void even with the guardian's permission or later approval. ¹

The Department answered that jurists agree that the sales and purchases of a child too young to discern are invalid in matters of significant value, quoting al-Mawardi in al-Hawi al-Kabir (5/368) that in the Shafi'i school a boy's purchase is void and does not depend on the guardian's approval; it said it is better for parents to give young children what they need or to arrange with the school's management for them to be given food from the canteen. ¹ It said that where this is not possible, the Hanbalis hold that such a child's dealings are valid in trivial matters, quoting Ibn Qudama in al-Mughni (4/186) that his dealings are invalid even with the guardian's permission except in small things, citing the report that Abu al-Darda bought a sparrow from a boy and set it free, and quoting al-Mardawi in al-Insaf that validity in small matters is the correct view of the school. ¹ It concluded that there is no objection to such a child buying and selling inexpensive, trivial items, on condition of the guardian's permission and within what custom accepts, though it is better for parents to arrange with the school or send food with the child. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4507, dated 16 August 2026. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.