Sale and Purchase of Customs Confiscations

Between Islamic Law and Kuwaiti Law

Dr. Mutlaq Muhammad Mutlaq Al-Mutairi
Assistant Professor at Saad Al-Abdullah Academy for
Security Sciences
Abstract:
This study addresses the sale and purchase of customs
confiscations in Islamic and Kuwaiti laws, explaining the
Islamic legal opinion against that of the Kuwaiti legislator. The
study consists of an introduction, three chapters, and a
conclusion. The first chapter covers linguistic and technical
definitions of sale, purchase, and customs confiscations. The
second chapter discusses the legality of customs in both Islamic
and Kuwaiti laws. The third chapter discusses the ruling of
selling and purchasing customs confiscations in both laws.
The thesis concludes that the Customs Regime in the
modern era is similar to that of Tax Tithes On Trade in Islam.
There is no disagreement among Islamic scholars regarding
customs taxes on trade and sales for non-Muslims travelling to
Islamic countries for trade and profiteering purposes. In Islam,
customs duties are permissible if the state is in need of such
duties and the state treasury could not meet such a need.
Similarly, customs are legitimate under the Kuwaiti Customs
Law, comprising (24) legal articles.
If goods were legally confiscated and permissible in
themselves, they may be sold and purchased. Otherwise, they
shall not be sold or purchased but be returned to their owners. In
Islam, it is prohibited to sell and purchase confiscated goods that
are not allowable such as wine and pork. However, the Kuwaiti
legislator did not determine such confiscated goods but stated
their permissibility in general.