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Fatwa CenterReturning the bought yogurt to its producer in case it is not sold
Question
Salamou alikom
I sell yugurt in my store as you know that it has a date limit . I have a deal with the yugurt company ; when I buy from them ;if the yugurt didnt get sold and after getting expired; they(yugurt) will be automaticly returned to them and they will switch the expired yugurt by a new ones . I want to know if that will be halal and not Ribeah or the opposite?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
The fact that you condition on the seller that if you do not sell the yogurt you will return it to him is a void condition that should not be taken into account because it contradicts the terms of the contract. Indeed, the jurists 
stated that such a condition is among the invalid conditions by which the sale does not become void, rather the sale is valid but the condition is void.
Al-Buhooti 
said: 'If a buyer conditions that there would be no loss on him, or that he conditions selling the goods well otherwise he gives it back to the seller, then it is only the condition that is void but the sale is valid.’ This condition is void because it is contrary to the terms of the contract because the terms of the contract is that the buyer owns the goods and he is responsible for its profit and loss because he has become the owner of the goods and the Prophet said: “The return (on an asset) is based on liability (i.e. bearing the risks and responsibility).” [Ahmad] This means that if a person has the profit of something, he should be responsible for its loss, and it is known that if there is a profit over the sale of goods, the profit is for the buyer without doubt, so since the profit is for the buyer, then it is not correct to condition the loss on the seller.
Nonetheless, the sale is correct because it is confirmed in a Prophetic narration by Bareerah 
that her owners conditioned (when they wanted to sell her to ‘Aa’ishah) a condition that contradicts the terms of the contract, which is that if ‘Aa’ishah would buy her and then would set her free [as she was a female slave], then it is her owners who would be the people who have the right to have al-‘Walaa’ (i.e. to inherit her when she dies) and the Prophet invalidated this condition but he did not invalidate the contract.
To conclude, you are not permitted to condition that on them.
However, there is a way out for you and for them, which is to be an agent between them and the consumers with a definite percentage from the price, or that you will get whatever exceeds such and such amount, and in this case, it is them –and not you –who would be responsible for the yogurt because you are just an agent and you do not guarantee it except in the case of negligence or transgression (negligence is related to preserving the item and transgression is related to using it).
Allaah Knows best.
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