Buying bales of used clothes and toys by weight

A question about buying bales of used clothes and toys by weight, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that there is no objection to buying sealed bales by weight after seeing a sample, where custom has established it and there is no uncertainty that would lead to dispute or risk-taking. ¹

The questioner asked about buying bales of used toys and clothes in closed sacks, where the trader opens one sack as a sample and the remaining sacks are bought closed, by the kilo. ¹

The Department answered that there is no objection to buying goods that are hard or impossible to count because of their number, packed and sold by weight, even if the individual items turn out to vary once opened, to ease people's trade and in keeping with their customs, so long as it does not cause discord or dispute; some earlier jurists accepted selling clothes in bulk without count when opening and counting them was burdensome, unless it led to dispute, excessive uncertainty or gambling. ¹ It quoted Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani in al-Hujja ala Ahl al-Madina, who argued that a bale of clothes that would be damaged by opening may be sold without counting, by analogy with selling walnuts, eggs and vegetables in bulk, and said that bulk sale is among the most clearly permissible sales. ¹ It concluded that buying clothes or toys in what is known as a bale is permitted when custom has established it and there is no uncertainty leading to dispute or risk. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3736, dated 14 December 2022. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.