A broker is a person who is employed by other people to buy and sell on their behalf. A commission agent is employed in the same way. Samsara (brokerage) is a type of work by which property is legally possessed. Abu Dawud, in his Sunan, related that Qais ibn Abu Ghurza al-Kanani said: “We used to buy the Awsaq (loads or freight) in Madinah and call ourselves brokers. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) came and called us with a name which was better than ours. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “O you merchants, trading is usually blemished with foolish talk and swearing, so blend it with sadaqah.” This means that the trader exceeds the limit when describing his goods to the extent that He talks foolishly, and He may be at risk by swearing to promote his goods. It is therefore preferable to give sadaqah in order to remove the effect of his actions. The work of selling and buying which the person is contracted for, should be defined, whether by the goods or by the period. So if He hired a person to sell or buy for Him a certain home or property, this would be legally valid, or if He hired Him to sell or to buy for Him during one day it would be legally valid as well. But if He hired Him to do an unknown work it would be legally invalid.

Brokerage does not apply to the actions of some employees. For example, a merchant sends an agent to buy for Him goods from another merchant, who gives Him money in return for buying the goods from him. The agent does not deduct this amount from the price of the goods but rather takes it for himself as commission. This is not considered by Shar’a as brokerage, because the employee is an agent for the merchant who employed him, so whatever is reduced from the price is for the merchant, not the agent. It is thus prohibited for the agent to take it as it belongs to the buyer, unless He permits it, in which case it is allowed for him.

Similarly if a person sent his servant or friend to buy something for Him and the seller gave Him some property, namely a commission in return for buying from him, He is not allowed to take it because it is not brokerage, but a theft stolen from the property of the man who sent him. This is because this property belongs to the person who sent Him to buy, and not to the person who was sent.