Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce ISSN: 1204-5357
ISSN: 1204-5357
+44-175-271-2024| Mohd Zulkifli Muhammad, MBA Lecturer of Islamic Finance, SPKAL, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, Labuan F.T., Malaysia. Postal Address: SPKAL, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, 87000 Labuan F.T., Malaysia. Author's Personal/Organizational Website: www.ums.edu.my Email: zulrider@yahoo.com (please use to correspond with the authors) Mohd Zulkifli Muhammad is a lecturer in Islamic Finance Program at Labuan School of International Business and Finance, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, Labuan F.T., Malaysia. His areas of interest are Islamic Banking, Islamic Finance, Takaful, Banking Services and Trade Financing and Islamic Financial System. |
| Tamrin Amboala, MIT Lecturer of Management Information System, SSIL, Universiti Malaysia Sabah-Labuan International Campus, Labuan F.T., Malaysia. Postal Address: SSIL, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, 87000 Labuan F.T., Malaysia. Author's Personal/Organizational Website: www.ums.edu.my Email: ramdzan_trn@yahoo.com Tamrin Amboala is a lecturer of Management Information System at Labuan School of Informatics Science, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, Labuan F.T., Malaysia. His current research interests are Business Process Reengineering and Methodologies and Redesigning Enterprise Processes for E-Business. |
| Mohd Fahmi Ghazali, M. Econ Head of Financial Economics Programme, SPKAL, Universiti Malaysia Sabah-Labuan International Campus, Labuan F.T., Malaysia. Postal Address: SPKAL, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, 87000 Labuan F.T., Malaysia. Author's Personal/Organizational Website: www.ums.edu.my Email: mohdfahmi_ghazali@yahoo.com Mohd Fahmi Ghazali is a Head of Financial Economics Programme at Labuan School of International Business and Finance, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, Labuan F.T., Malaysia. His current research interests are econometrics, microeconomics and financial economics. |
| Zakiah Hassan, MSc. Finance Lecturer of International Finance, SPKAL, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, Labuan F.T., Malaysia. Postal Address: SPKAL, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, 87000 Labuan F.T., Malaysia. Author's Personal/Organizational Website: www.ums.edu.my Email: zakiah_hassan78@yahoo.com Zakiah Hassan is a lecturer of International Finance at Labuan School of International Business and Finance, Universiti Malaysia Sabah- Labuan International Campus, Labuan F.T., Malaysia. His current research interests are International Finance, Global Finance, Investment Analysis and Corporate Finance. |
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There are growing concerns among e-commerce customers particularly Muslims in Malaysia regarding on-line transaction both from security aspect and Sharia’ perspective. There are two main issues arise concerning purchasing on-line using credit cards. First is the medium of transaction via on-line or Internet itself and secondly, the mode of payment being used to purchase online in which using credit card in this case. As Malaysia is heading towards e-commerce and purchasing on-line via credit cards has no longer a new trend; the challenges arise for solution which compliance with Sharia’ principles. This paper will address and highlight several challenges and issues and present recommendations based on the existing technology without overlooking legal provision provided in this country to solve the above concerns.
Keywords |
| E-commerce transaction, Sharia’ principles, credit card. |
Introduction |
| The advents of IT and e-commerce have brought more complex levels of Islamic business and commerce ethics that require the Islamic jurisprudents to expand their tools of evaluation and analysis beyond the traditional context. With a comprehensive approach that taking into account regulations and the existing technological tools brought into the Sharia’s perspective, this article seeks and develops an understanding how to provide alternative solution to the conventional and unislamic e-commerce transaction. |
| There are several main challenges of on-line transaction from the perspective of Sharia’ which will be discussed here namely the security, legality of the contract, issues of anonymity, gharar and riba. Addressing these aspects require Islamic jurist and scholars to scrutinize both the technicalities of the on-line transaction and the legalities in terms of Sharia’. |
Challenges from Perspective of Sharia’ |
| Trade and commerce have always been a part of Islam. From pre-Islamic days, the Holy City of Mecca has been the center of commercial activities. It was indeed the annual trading center of Mecca that provided Prophet Muhammad the forum for preaching Islam. The early Muslims were not only engaged in trade but they went to distant lands in connection with business. Islam in fact reached East and West Africa, East Asia through the business people. |
| Islam encourages work in general, and trade and commerce in particular, Prophet Muhammad was himself engaged in this profession before he became a prophet. He was a successful businessman. Known for integrity, he bore the honorific title, "Trustworthy". The Quran states: |
| "God- has permitted for you trade and prohibited interest." (2:275) |
| "And He has subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are Signs indeed for those who reflect." (45:13) |
| "It is He who hath made you (His) agents, inheritors of the earth: He hath raised you in ranks, some above others: that He may try you in the gifts He hath given you: for thy Lord is quick in punishment: yet He is indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (6:164) |
| In addition, the Quran includes rules not only for manners and hygiene, marriage and divorce, but it also lays down detailed rules for commerce and politics, interest and debts, contracts and wills, and industry and finance. Islam has permitted and in fact encouraged business. Islam lays out the basic principles of our economic behavior as consumers, producers and owners of wealth. |
| The Islamic principle in business is based on individual enterprise and correspondingly individual's reward. It is basically based on benefiting the humanity while maintaining Allah's orders. In business relationships Islam strictly forbids any discrimination between people based on their religion, sex, or gender. There is no basic conflict between good business practice and profit making in Islam. Islam looks at profit as secondary way to measure efficiency. |
| Therefore, Islam accords the importance to the trading sector as source of wealth and the roles its play to the development of the country and the ummah as a whole. In this regard, the holy Quran abounds with many references to the trade and commercial activities. The Quranic ayats supports this statement as below: |
| “O you who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it be a trade amongst you, by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves (nor kill one another). Surely, Allah is Most Merciful to you." (4:29) |
| “Woe to Al-Mutaffifin [those who give less measure and weight (decrease the rights of others)]” (83:1). |
| Parts from legality of transaction from the traditional perspective such as halal (permissible) aspects of the product or the service itself, Islam also recognize the confidentiality and the integrity as important elements to secure the transaction. Islam is very much concerns on the mode of transaction offered by the e-commerce. Thus, it has brought considerable critical attention. |
| What is known as “Trading Data Management” can be traced dated backward since fourteen centuries ago where the religion broken it into four major legalistic sections – Fiqh al-Muamalat (Islamic Business Transaction). |
On-Line Transaction |
| Securing transaction online must fulfill two main requirements, first concerning how to protect the data from the unauthorized parties (confidentiality) and how to guarantee the integrity of the transaction itself. Confidentiality ensures that the data travels on-line only be received and access by the authorized party(s). |
| Confidentiality sometimes is associated with secrecy and privacy. On the other hand, Trusted Network Interpretation defines that the integrity ensures that computerised data are the same as those in source documents; they have not been exposed to accidental or malicious alteration or destruction (National Comp Sec Center, 1987). |
| In order to guarantee the integrity in the context of communication on line, Stalling (2003) suggested that the data sent must ensure the following: |
| i. The data must be protected against content modification – it includes changes to the contents of a message, including insertion, deletion, transposition and modification |
| ii. The data must be protected against timing modification – delay or replay messages |
| iii. Source repudiation –denial of transmission of message by source |
| iv. Destination repudiation – denial of receipt of message by destination |
| If man-in-the-middle is able to intercept the message sent to a merchant, he might not just modify the message (i.e. the order quantity), yet able to replay the same message to re-purchase the product several time. |
| The mechanism must provide protection against denial by one of the entities involved in a communication of having participated in all or part of the communication. Both the origin or sender and destination have proof that message was sent and received. For instance, if a customer has made a payment on line there is no way that the merchandiser denies it. The above requirements can be achieved by two main ways - Encryption and Digital Signature. |
| Credit card companies realized that most transactions over the internet require just keying in information on credit card number, expiry date of card, name and address. Both Visa and MasterCard have designed a protocol called “SET” or Secure Electronic Transaction with participation from leading technology companies, including Microsoft, IBM, Netscape, RSA and VeriSign. As the specification developed is open and free, anyone can use it or develop any SET-compliant software for buying or selling on line (www.visa.com). |
| SET focuses on maintaining confidentiality of information, ensuring the message integrity and authenticating the parties involved in transactions. It has been designed to utilize technology for authenticating the parties involved in payment card purchases on any type of online network and internet that uses Encryption and Digital Signature and Digital Certificates. |
1. Encryption |
| To buy goods over the Internet, one need to place an order accompanied by a credit card number. The credit-card number must be encrypted before sending it to the merchandiser. Encryption is a process in which the plain data such as a credit card number is transformed into a cipher text unreadable accept for by receiving end who then decrypts the scramble message into a readable form. This will ensure that the credit card number will not be intercepted en-route, though if they are capable the interpretation of the data is meaningless without the interceptor knowing how the scrambling was done. This will prevent the cipher text be used by the unscrupulous individuals. |
2. Legality of on-line Contract: Perspective of Sharia’ |
| The evolution of the Islamic law of contract is unique from any other legal system. Its rules were originally based on certain provisions addressing diverse issues of contract which were derived from the primary sources. These provisions were general and did not explain in detail to address all aspects of contract. |
| Therefore, further developments have been carried out by Muslim jurists from different Islamic school of thoughts. Developments of the law of contract have mainly been elaborative approaches to the provided, concise, maxims that deal with commercial activities, which were put forward in the Qura’an and the Hadith. Public interest and trading practises and usages are the key bases for those established rules to deal with the commercial section of law (Alzaagy, 2007). |
| Nevertheless, it must be considered that those developments of law were formed by human thoughts based on prevalent commercial customs which vary from time to time and from society to society. For this reason, such human rules are not sacred rules which must be followed all the time by all Muslims everywhere. |
| The word ‘aqd (contract) in Arabic language means tying tightly, as in tying a rope. Arabs used the word to speak about firm belief or determination. They used to say ‘aqd al ‘ahd to mean ‘make a covenant’ and ‘aqd al yamin to mean ‘give an oath’ (Kharofa, 2000). The word ‘aqd also carries the meaning of obligations, as used in the first verse of Surah al-Maida: |
| "O ye who believe! Fulfil your obligation." (5:1) |
| In Islamic jurisprudence the word contract is used to mean an engagement and agreement between two persons in a legally accepted, impactful and binding manner. |
| Contract as a little contracting parties obligating themselves with regards a given matter and binding themselves together with the same as result of connecting an offer with an acceptance. Also contracting is the connection of an offer with an acceptance in a lawful manner which marks its effect on the subject of the connection. |
| The formation of contract requires two parties: one offers the contract then another party who will accept the offer. The offer is the proposal which is made to show his or her willingness to form a contract and in turn, the later response from the other party to prove his or her willingness to the offer. |
| The terms and conditions of the contract can be easily communicated on line but issues arise pertaining to the meeting place. Traditionally with off-line communication where both parties met face-to-face issues of anonymity is never arise. |
| From the tradition attributed to the Prophet emphasized the importance of the concept of meeting place can be understood from the following Hadith: |
| “When two persons enter into a transaction, each of them has the right to annul it so long as they are not separated and are together (at the place of transaction); or if one gives the other the right to annul the transaction. But if one gives the other the option, the transaction is made on this condition it becomes binding. And if they are separated after they have made the bargain and none of them annulled it, even the transaction is binding.” (Shahih Muslim) |
| The above hadith covers both the concept of meeting place and time to conclude the offer. The idea of setting place in Islamic commercial legal system is required to extend the validity of the offer over a certain period of time in which the acceptance must be made within the designated period. A part from giving option for annulling the sale at any time before separation the meeting place alleviate anonymity concern. Failure in addressing the issue of anonymity will bring in issues of security of the transaction itself. |
3. The Application of Session Key to Resolve Time Validity Period in Meeting Place |
| The validity period in meeting place can be resolved with an authorization and authorization technique in Authentication Protocols by using session key. Generally the protocol is used to verify that the communication partner who is supposed to be not an impostor (Tanenbaum, 2003). The difference between authentication and authorization is deal with whether you are communicating with a specific process whilst whether or not you permitted to do the specific process or activity. For instance when two parties initiate a deal or contract on line the first question arise are the communicating parties are “talking” to the trusted ones. The first question is more important to be answered unambiguously before the next process begin in which is just a matter of looking up entries in local databases to check out level of authority be given to him or her to close the deal. |
| Though the application of session key is mainly used for authorization it can be expanded to validate time validity. Once the communication is terminated the session key can be cheaply discarded. |
4. The Application of Digital Signature and Certified Authority to Resolve Anonymity Concern |
| This article seeks to present and clarify the mechanism to resolve the above concerns pertaining to anonymity in relation with the security and the validity of the transaction from Islamic legal system. By applying both the technological and legal solution in ecommerce transaction will provide a comprehensive approach towards the above concerns. |
Digital Signature |
| Though securing data from disclosure by the unauthorized party will ensure confidentiality it will not protect the data from repudiation. There is a compelling need that for the message to be protected from repudiation. Someone who sends a message must be accountable and responsible and there is no way he or she to deny. In another hand someone cannot falsify a message and claim that it was from someone else is another example of repudiation. |
| A digital signature provides a mechanism in which the identity of the sender of a message or the signer of a document to ensure that the original content of the message or document that has been sent is not tampered or changed. |
| Digital Signature tries to replicate traditional signature that uniquely identifies the owner of the signature. The ability to guarantee that the original signed message arrived means that the sender cannot easily deny it later. Digital signatures are easily transportable and cannot be copied or fabricated by someone else and can be atomically time-stamped. |
| Digital signature complements the encryption though it is not necessarily be used together. It can be used with any kind of message, whether it is encrypted or not. The receiver simply can be sure of the sender’s identity and the message arrived intact. |
Trusted third Party – Certificate Authority (CA) |
| In order to guarantee and convince the receiving party that the message received is not tampered a trusted third party is involved. The Trusted Third Party and sometimes interchangeably called Certificate Authority (CA) to resolve any possible conflict concerning the authentication and the confidentiality of the transaction. The trusted third party or the certificate authority will ensure that the message received in a form when it was sent. The general idea is that a certificate authority is trusted, so users can delegate the construction, issuance, and acceptances as well as revocation of certificates to the authority. |
| Pfleeger (2006) cited that the specific actions of a certificate authority include the following: |
| i. Managing public key certificates for their whole life cycle |
| ii. Issuing certificates by binding a user’s or system’s identity to a public key with a digital signature |
| iii. Scheduling expiration dates for certificates. |
| Anyone can verify that the certificate is real and from the party who issue it. In Malaysia, Digicert Sdn. Bhd is the first Certification Authority (CA) in the country since 1998. Digicert Sdn. Bhd serves as a trusted third party which issues digital certificate for both parties to secure their transaction (www.mimos.com.my). Whilst the buyer and the merchandise will only concern about the payment and the product or service to be delivered the CA facilitate and focus on maintaining the confidentiality of the information, ensuring the message integrity, and authenticating the parties involved in the transaction. |
| All the underlying process takes place in a Secure Socket layer in a transport level in a five-layer Internet protocol. For instance, Maybank, a leading commercial bank in this country implementing 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption protocol from Verisign Certificate Authority for all information transmitted over the Internet among users as well as within their own network and resources. At the same time, Maybank to adopt Best Practices Maybank from WebTrust – an independent corporation that monitors and tests the facilities to assure that it maintains the highest and most current standards in Internet information security and exchange. |
Digital Signature Act (DSA) in Malaysia |
| To cope up with global and technological need of electronic commerce the Digital Signature Act 1997 was introduced. The Act came into force in 1998 two years after the government launches the Multimedia Super Corridor mega project. |
| The Act requires that a document attached with a digital signature shall be as legally binding as a traditional signature, an affixed thumbprint or any other mark and that digital signature created in accordance with the Act shall be deemed to be a legally binding signature. It is also mentioned that a message shall be as valid, enforceable and effective as if had been written on paper if it bears in its entirely a digital signature and the signature is verified in accordance with the procedure laid out in the act (The Credit Risk Data Management, 2007). |
| Technological solutions to identify both parties during transaction might not be convincing enough in order to meet the business legal protection. Legal protection has been regulated to provide a complementary approach for customers and businesses apart from what have been provided by Encryption and Digital Signature mechanisms. |
| Though there are no international treaties dealing with this issue DSA is considered an important tools and platform in securing electronic commerce. In terms of global electronic trade, problems regarding identification will still arise with regards to foreign parties |
1. The Legal Binding of a Digital Signature |
| As stated above the effect of the signature is the same as any other handwritten signature, thumbprint or mark as long as the digital signature is created in accordance with the DSA it is therefore as legally binding (section 62 DSA). |
| Section 64 DSA provides that a digitally signed document will be treated as a written document. The copies of a digitally signed document are also enforceable as an original under section 65 DSA. In section 67, provides an even stronger foundation for reliance on a digital signature with the presumptions as follows: |
| that a certificate digitally signed by a Certification Authority (CA) is issued by the CA and accepted by the subscriber if it is either published in the recognized repository or made available by the CA or the subscriber; that information in the certificate is accurate; where the digital signature is verified by the public key listed in the certificate: |
| i. the digital signature is that of the subscriber; |
| ii. there is intention by the subscriber to sign the message; and |
| iii. the recipient has no knowledge or notice that the signer has breached a duty as a subscriber (see discussion below) or is not the rightful holder of the private key; and |
| The above presumption indicates that the subscriber may breach a duty as subscriber by revealing the private key awarded to them to any illegitimate party. The illegitimate party then misuses the key and masquerading themselves as the real subscriber to the recipient. |
| The illegitimate party may illegally copy or steal the private key and sign the digital certificate with or without the subscriber’s acknowledgement. |
| The presumptions require the signer to prove that the digital signature was either not his or not attached by him or not proper in any way. |
| The practical impact of this would be that the risk of a forged or false signature now lies with the signer (subscriber). |
2. Duties and Liabilities |
| Subscribers: In section 43 DSA the subscribers are required to exercise reasonable care to ensure the private key from disclose to any unauthorized person. |
| In section 41 DSA the subscribers should shoulder any lose or damage caused by a false material representations or non-disclosure of where the representation or nondisclosure was made with a deceitful intent or negligence |
| As the sole owner of a certificate the representations by the subscriber are implied as followed: |
| i. The subscriber sole ownership of the private key |
| ii. Representations made to the CA and information contained in the certificate are true |
| iii. Though not confirmed by the CA all representations made to the CA or in the certificate are true. |
| Trusted third parties (CA): Section 29 DSA clarifies that upon receiving a request for issuance from the sender CA need to confirm: |
| i. the identity of the prospective subscriber Before issuing a certificate CA must come up with the following prerequisite |
| ii. the data to be on the certificate is accurate |
| iii. the prospective subscriber is the rightful holder of the private key |
| iv. the private key is capable of creating a digital signature |
| v. the public key to be listed in the certificate is capable of verifying a digital signature affixed by the private key held by the subscriber. |
| Section 36 DSA requires CA certifies to all who reasonably rely on the certificate that |
| i. the data in the certificate is accurate; |
| ii. all information foreseeably material to the reliability of the certificate is included; |
| iii. the subscriber has accepted the certificate. |
| Under section 30 DSA the CA is also legislatively required to publish a signed copy of the certificate upon acceptance by the subscriber unless otherwise stipulated in a contract between the CA and the subscriber. |
| Under section 35 DSA the CA has a legislative responsibility to the subscriber to act promptly when revoking a certificate. CA is required to notify the subscriber of any facts known which significantly affect the reliability or validity of the certificate. |
Payment Using Credit Card – Based on Islamic Principle |
| The credit card is an essential mode of payments in today’s society. It is one of the important pillars of consumerism. People own this “plastic money” for various reasons such as to attain credit facility, cash advance, easy payment, charge card and prestige (Billah, 2003). Indeed, the credit card has symbolized the status of wealth of a person in order to make her/him special than others. Over the years, credit card industries are getting popular among the Malaysian societies (Mansor, 2005). |
| According to Bank Negara Malaysia (2004), for the year 2004 there are 5.3 million credit cardholders in Malaysia that spent RM30 billion on the transaction. The credit cards that circulated in Malaysia could be clustered into two categories, which are conventional and Islamic-based credit cards (Choo et al., 2005). Although in nature, these cards are the same, but they are differences in terms of principles, fees and operations. For instance, conventional credit card allows interest in its program whereby Islamic credit card allows fees instead of interest in its program. |
| The use of credit cards for purchasing goods online and then paying the price of purchase by installments to the bank or authorities that issue the cards is, in fact, a form of loan to card-bearer. So, an issuer is not entitled to receive more than the amount taken to purchase. But, the issuer is permitted to take a fixed charge under the name of administrative expenses, and such a charge is not increasable due to an increase of money used for purchase. |
| For sure, imposing a percentage on the amount of money used by credit cards is Riba (usury and interest) in itself, whether such a percentage is taken as a charge service and administrative expense or due to delay in settlement. Both forms are a usurious loan and the most well-known form of Riba of non-Islamic systems. |
| Literally Riba means an increase or increase. According to Islamic Jurist it can be defined as usury or a practice of lending money with interest rates. In this concern, Islamic Fiqh Assembly issued its decision No. 108 (12/2) stating (Al-Faqih, 2002): |
| i. It is not permitted to issue uncovered credit cards or to deal in them if there is a condition that fixes usurious increase even if a user intends to pay up within a given free period. |
| ii. It is permitted to issue uncovered credit cards as long as there is no condition that fixes usurious increases to be added to debt. Here are two (2) sub points: |
| i) It is lawful (for the bank or issuer) to receive a fixed charge for the issue or renewal of such cards as a wage for service rendered. |
| ii) It is also lawful to receive commission from the trader for purchase, by the customer provided that selling by card is equal in price to selling in cash. |
| However, how does Islam accept the concept of credit card as a medium of on-line payment? What are the underlying principles required by Sharia' in the functionality of credit card? Islamic credit card is the substitute for conventional interest-based credit cards. Islam allows the use of credit card as long as it does not involve the element of interest. In Malaysia, the doctrine of Bay al-Inah is recognized and used to validate the credit card transaction (Kazi, 2002). |
| The Bay al-Inah contract works on the basis of two (2) separate agreements, namely Bay al-Mutlak (cash sale) and Bay Bithaman Ajil (deferred sale) (Darwish, 2003). The former is the bank’s agreement to sell an item to the customer at an agreed price, while the latter agreement covers the customer selling back to the bank at a lower price. The difference is the bank’s profit on the transaction and is a predetermined amount. There is no penalty charged to the customer and for the unutilized financing amount the customer is legible for rebate (Khir et al, 2008). |
| But the doctrine of Bay al-Inah is not recognized by some scholars from Middle-East. Their reasoning is that the contract is ethically flimsy when applied in this manner, the sale transacted is a fake sale and thus just a means of masking Riba. They decided that the solution to Riba avoidance was to exercise the acceptable right of charging for the provision of a financial guarantee called the guarantee system (Darwish, 2003). |
| Regarding the above issue, Murabahah System is proposed by Mustafa Omar of Islamic International University (Zainul, et. al, 2004). Murabahah is generally defined as a sale with Mark-up or a cost plus profit sale. It is sale of product for the price at which the bank in this case has purchased it, with the addition of stated profit. Islamic banks use it as a credit vehicle to finance the buyer against a predetermined profit without bearing any risk. |
Gharar |
| Literally gharar means fraud and has often been associated with risk and uncertainty. To avoid from gharar both parties; buyers and sellers are required to have adequate information of values they intend to exchange, the existence of the object, obtainable, its quantity, quality and attributes are identified and it can duly be delivered. |
| It is reported in a Hadith that the Prophet (s.a.w), prohibited the sale of gharar. While commenting on this hadith, Ibn Taymiyyah wrote that gharar sale is a sale which partakes in risk taking (mukhatarah) and in unlawful devouring the property of others (Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah, 1317 A.H). As commented by Islamic jurist the necessary to avoid any contracting party mislead the other party and use abusive means dishonestly provided on line to his or her ignorance. |
| Traditionally gharar is used describe two types transactions – 1) sale of the unseen (bay’ al-gha'ib) such as sale of crops not yet grown to maturity, or sale of fish in the pond and 2) sale of the non-existent (bay’ al-ma'dum) which is the sale object was nonexistent at the time of contract. |
| Islamic jurist are divided in determining the validity of transaction with reference to gharar. Hanafi school of thought stated that the knowledge of the products and its attributes as perquisites to validate the transaction. Anyway it is required for enforceability in case the dispute arise in the future between the contracting parties. On the other hand the Shafi'is maintain, that knowledge of both the essence and attributes of the counter values is a precondition of validity and a sale in which the buyer has not seen the object is invalid due to excessive gharar |
| The anonymity of Internet users including traders contribute to the complexity of defining gharar in its new dimension. It used to happen in which the subject matter is concealed from the buyer without he or she knowing exactly its future result. In the sense of on-line transactions there are also three major concerns pertaining to gharar; the uncertainties over the products or the services itself, uncertainties over pricing and delivery and deferment. |
| Islamic business and commerce ethics require the sellers to clearly define the products offered, for instance the image of the products must be displayed clearly on the screen with their detailed specifications, the prices, the mode of delivery and payments. Secondly both contracting parties; sellers and buyers must able to exchange the message in order to achieve conformity in the agreement that bind them together. |
Conclusion |
| The discussion presented here might have answered the major concern among Muslims regarding the security, legality and against gharar, riba and related issues from the perspective of Sharia' particularly in Malaysia. A part from a comprehensive approach, this article is also meant to provide a general guidance for e-commerce players. |
References |
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