بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب وبالله التوفيق

وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته

Firstly: Understanding the Transaction

The real estate wholesaling model you have described involves the following Sharī'ah-relevant elements:

1. The wholesaler (your employer's students/clients) locates a distressed property.
2. He signs a purchase agreement with the homeowner at a low price (e.g., $86k).
3. He does not take ownership or possession.
4. He then assigns this purchase contract to a cash investor for a fee ($10k–$15k).
5. The investor buys directly from the original homeowner.

This is, in essence, selling a contractual right (assignment of a purchase agreement) rather than selling the property itself — and this is where the Sharī'ah issue lies.

Secondly: The Sharī'ah Ruling on This Model

1. Selling What One Does Not Own or Possess

The Prophet ﷺ said:

لا تبع ما ليس عندك

"Do not sell what you do not have with you."

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, #1232; Sunan Abū Dāwūd, #3503; Musnad Aḥmad)

Imām al-Ṭaḥāwī (raḥimahullāh) narrated in Sharḥ Ma'ānī al-Āthār that this prohibition applies to selling a specific commodity (ayn) that one does not own or possess.

Imām al-Kāsānī (raḥimahullāh) states in Badā'i' al-Ṣanā'i' (vol. 5, p. 148):

بيع المعدوم باطل

"The sale of a non-existent object is invalid."

And in al-Hidāyah (Kitāb al-Buyū'):

ولا يصح بيع ما ليس عندك

"The sale of what is not in your possession is not valid."

2. The Nature of the Assignment Fee

In the described model, the wholesaler is essentially selling the purchase agreement (a contractual right) to the investor. This resembles bay' al-dain (sale of a debt/right) or bay' al-ḥuqūq (sale of rights), which the Ḥanafī jurists discuss under al-ijārah or al-ḥawālah frameworks.

Imām Ibn 'Ābidīn (raḥimahullāh) in Radd al-Muḥtār (vol. 5, p. 339) states:

لا يجوز بيع الحقوق المجردة

"The sale of abstract rights is not permissible."

However, there is a distinction: if the assignment is done through a valid ḥawālah (transfer of obligation) or the investor directly contracts with the homeowner, and the wholesaler's fee is for brokerage (simsārah) or finding the deal, then the ruling may differ.

3. The Critical Distinction: Brokerage vs. Assignment Fee

• If the wholesaler acts as a broker (simsār) — connecting the homeowner with the investor and earning a commission (ujrah) — this is permissible (al-Hidāyah, Kitāb al-Ijārah; Radd al-Muḥtār, vol. 6, p. 58).
• If the wholesaler signs a purchase agreement, takes a contractual right over the property, and then sells that right for a profit without ever owning or possessing the property — this falls under selling what one does not own, which is impermissible according to the Ḥanafī school.

The key factor is: Does the wholesaler take on genuine risk and liability of ownership? In the described model, he does not. He merely locks in a contract and flips it. This is closer to bay' al-ḍamān (sale of liability) without actual ownership, which is not recognized as valid in Ḥanafī fiqh.

4. Does an "Assignment Clause" Make It Ḥalāl?

No. A contractual clause permitting assignment does not change the Sharī'ah ruling. The permissibility of a transaction is determined by Sharī'ah, not by what the contract stipulates. Imām al-Sarakhsī (raḥimahullāh) states in al-Mabsūṭ (vol. 13, p. 14):

الشروط لا تحلل الحرام

"Conditions do not make the unlawful lawful."

If the underlying transaction involves selling a right one does not own, adding an assignment clause does not purify it.

Thirdly: The Mentorship Business

The mentorship teaches this model and provides contracts, leads, CRM, and cash buyer access. Since the core business model being taught involves a Sharī'ah-prohibited transaction, earning income from teaching and facilitating it would also be impermissible.

The principle is:

ما حرم أخذه حرم إعطاؤه

"What is forbidden to take is forbidden to give."

(This principle is derived from the ḥadīth: "May Allah curse the one who consumes ribā, the one who pays it, the one who writes it, and the two witnesses..." — Sunan al-Tirmidhī, #1206)

Imām Ibn 'Ābidīn in Radd al-Muḥtār (vol. 4, p. 178) and the jurists of al-Fatāwā al-'Ālamgīriyyah (vol. 3, p. 213) explicitly state that assisting in ḥarām is itself ḥarām.

Fourthly: Your Income as a DM Setter/Marketer

Your role is to market the mentorship and enroll people into a program that teaches a ḥarām business model. Even though you are not personally buying or selling properties, you are:

1. Promoting a ḥarām transaction.
2. Facilitating others to engage in it.
3. Earning from this promotion.

Allāh ﷻ says:

وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَىٰ ۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ

"And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression."

(Sūrah al-Mā'idah, 5:2)

The Prophet ﷺ said:

من دل على خير فله مثل أجر فاعله

"Whoever guides to good will have a reward like the one who does it."

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, #1893)

And conversely, whoever guides to evil carries its burden. Imām al-Nawawī (raḥimahullāh) comments in Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim that this ḥadīth applies to both good and evil.

Therefore, your income as a DM setter for this mentorship would not be ḥalāl as long as the mentorship is primarily teaching and facilitating this ḥarām wholesaling model.

Fifthly: What If the Mentorship Also Teaches Ḥalāl Methods?

If the mentorship teaches only ḥalāl methods (e.g., genuine brokerage, fix-and-flip with actual ownership, or pure consulting), then your income would be ḥalāl. But if the primary or substantial content is the ḥarām assignment model, then the income remains impermissible.

The principle from al-Fatāwā al-'Ālamgīriyyah (vol. 5, p. 348) and Radd al-Muḥtār (vol. 6, p. 391) is:

إذا اختلط الحلال بالحرام وغلب الحرام حرم

"When ḥalāl mixes with ḥarām and the ḥarām predominates, it becomes ḥarām."

Summary of Rulings

| Question | Ruling | |----------|--------| | Is the wholesaling model (assigning a purchase contract without ownership) ḥalāl? | No, it involves selling what one does not own/possess. | | Does an explicit assignment clause make it ḥalāl? | No, conditions do not override Sharī'ah. | | Is the mentorship income ḥalāl? | No, if it primarily teaches this ḥarām model. | | Is your income as a DM setter ḥalāl? | No, as you are facilitating and promoting a ḥarām transaction. |

Advice

1. Seek a ḥalāl alternative: You could work as a marketer for a business that teaches genuine real estate investing (with actual ownership, fix-and-flip, or pure brokerage).
2. Repent and leave: If you are currently in this role, make tawbah and transition to ḥalāl income. Allāh ﷻ is al-Razzāq and will provide from unexpected sources.
3. Consult a local muftī: If the business model is restructured to involve genuine ownership or pure brokerage, re-present it to a qualified muftī for a fresh ruling.

وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا ۞ وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ

"And whoever fears Allah — He will make for him a way out. And will provide for him from where he does not expect."

(Sūrah al-Ṭalāq, 65:2–3)

والله سبحانه وتعالى أعلم بالصواب

Muftī Muhammad Taqī Usmānī (in Fatāwā Usmānī, vol. 3, p. 421) and Muftī Muhammad Shafī' (in Imdād al-Fatāwā, vol. 3, p. 89) have both ruled that selling a contractual right without ownership falls under bay' al-ma'dūm and is not permissible in the Ḥanafī school.