Is a Murabaha sale permissible when an item is bought from a freed slave managing the shop, and subsequently sold back at a higher price?
Chapter on Selling the Musarrah (Animal with milk retained in udder)
Al-Mughni
Book of Sales
Primary text
If a person purchases an item from his freed shop slave and then sells it via Murabaha for more than that price, the Murabaha sale is invalid until the situation is explained. This is because the person is suspected in this context, resembling someone whose testimony is not accepted.
Supporting text
Abu al-Khattab stated that if this action is done as a legal trick (hila), it is impermissible. However, the stronger view is that it is permissible if it is not a trick, as the freed slave is essentially a stranger. Nevertheless, any such action executed as a trick constitutes prohibition, deceit, and misrepresentation.