Does islam allow the sale of things by force?

For example:

buyer: I would like to use this mosque for prayer purposes
seller: No problem, please go to the stall and purchase something for $200, and bring the receipt here, once you bring the receipt, you are free to use this mosque
buyer: Goes and gets stuff for $200 from the stall even though he does not want it and gives the receipt to the seller.
seller: Allows buyer entry into the mosque.

Are such forced sales allowed according to Islam?

  • It's not really "forced sales". In this case, you are purchasing XYZ, but you get ABC for free, which you don't want. Maybe wastage, but if they use such a system, chances are nobody wants ABC or it's used as a system to advertise ABC. – Muz Mar 26 '13 at 0:46
  • Sure - why not. If the money is used to further the cause of muslims and spread islam around the world, there's no reason why not. Certainly nothing to my knowledge in the Quran. – Hanif Mar 27 '13 at 17:39
  • @Hanif, so if a person is poor, and can't afford to buy stuff just to pray in the mosque, what is he to do, not go to the mosque? – user3550 Mar 27 '13 at 23:20
  • It's still a veiled "toll", but whether it's outright lying/misleading depends on how/when they tell you that you have to pay. Mosques are expensive to build, and one can pray at home or other mosques, so it's not always bad. Even basic living requirements like food and housing require a fee. I recall a hadith that forbids the exorbitant selling of essentials like water; someone might want to look for that one. – Muz Mar 28 '13 at 6:00
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    Is this a real question? Or you are assuming a situation? Where did this happen? – Tarek Eldeeb Mar 28 '13 at 8:15

This sounds like a bizarre analogy to me. First of all nobody in the world would do that. Mosque is a place of worship and I am pretty sure nobody would stop you from entering it if you wanted to go there for prayer. I don't know which part of the world you come from, but even here in the west where mosques are very few in numbers this is not the case.

Now back to the part where they ask you to buy something. Whatever the case maybe, the person is not forcing you to buy something. He is giving you a free ticket to a place in return for an indirect price. Now it doesn't matter if he's charging you directly for that service, what matters is that the service is not free and you have to pay for it one way or the other. This sounds like a tricky kind of business strategy, and usually it should be clear what you really pay for.

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