Is it permissible to hire a broker (*samsar*) to purchase clothes on one's behalf?

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Hiring a broker for purchasing clothes is permissible. This view is supported by Ibn Sirin, 'Ata', and Al-Nakha'i. The basis for this permissibility is that it involves a permissible benefit, and agency is valid in such matters, thus making payment for the service permissible, analogous to construction work. Furthermore, the contract can be based on a known duration, such as hiring the broker for ten days to make purchases, because both the duration and the work are specified, similar to a tailor or a washerman. It is also valid if the work is specified without a time frame, such as agreeing to give the broker a known amount from every thousand dirhams worth of purchases.