Selling a box of toys whose contents are unknown

Question: 2997

I have a grocery in
which there is a product which consists of a carton in which are twelve
boxes. This is called “Try Your Luck” – each box contains candy and
a child’s toy, either a car, airplane, fan or train. Each box has a
different toy inside. What is the ruling on selling these things to
customers?

Answer

Praise be to Allah, and blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

In this kind of product the boxes are sealed and it is not known which kind of child’s toy is inside. This is bay’ majhool (selling something sight unseen), which lacks the necessary condition of knowledge of what is being sold, either by sight or by description. Hence it is not permissible to deal with this kind of product where what is being sold is not known, either by sight or by description, because it is a kind of deceptive sale such as was forbidden in the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), who narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade sales of deception. (Narrated by Muslim, 3/1153)

Source:

From Fataawaa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 13/85

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