An annual car maintenance subscription

A question on an annual subscription for periodic car maintenance and repair, which Jordan's General Iftaa Department permitted provided the work and the fee are clearly defined. ¹

The questioner asked whether an annual car subscription covering periodic maintenance and repair throughout the year is permitted. ¹

The Department answered that in a maintenance contract one party undertakes to inspect a machine periodically and repair or replace whatever fails, and classified it as a hire of services for an agreed fee. ¹ It said the contract carries some uncertainty, since a breakdown may or may not occur, but this is minor uncertainty that custom accepts and need calls for, by analogy with hire and reward contracts, citing al-Nawawi's al-Majmu' on the difference between avoidable uncertainty and what need requires. ¹ It cited the International Islamic Fiqh Academy's resolution 103 (11/6) on maintenance contracts, and concluded that the subscription is permitted provided the work is precisely defined and so is the fee, with the company bound to the maintenance and inspection and the owner to the fees and the price of parts as agreed. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3807, dated 21 September 2023. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.