Buying a food ration card at a discount

A question about buying a food ration card at a discount, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that selling a ration card before taking possession of the goods it represents is not permitted, because of the gross uncertainty involved and because it exploits the needs of the poor; once the holder has received and owns the goods, he may sell them at any price. ¹

The questioner asked whether he may buy a food ration card worth 100 dinars for 85 dinars. ¹

The Department answered that selling a ration card involves gross uncertainty, since the type and quantity of what is sold are unknown, and uncertainty invalidates a sale, citing a hadith narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurayra prohibiting the pebble sale and sales involving excessive uncertainty (gharar). ¹ It said that the card is allocated by the body that issues it to help those in need and to subsidise essential foodstuffs; selling it exploits the needs of the poor, defeats the purpose of issuing the cards and turns aid into profit for those not in need. ¹ It said the prohibition is strengthened by a report narrated by Malik in al-Muwatta that food vouchers were issued to people in the time of Marwan ibn al-Hakam and they traded them before receiving the food; Zayd ibn Thabit and another Companion objected to Marwan, who sent guards to take the vouchers back from people and return them to their owners. ¹ It concluded that selling ration cards before owning the actual goods is not permitted, but once the cardholder has received his entitlement and owns the goods the coupons represent, he may sell them at whatever price he wishes. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3667, dated 22 December 2021. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.