Buying from a gas-station attendant “behind the meter”

Mufti:

Alsayyed Muhammad b. Abdallah Awad Al-Muayyady

تاريخ النشر: January 9, 2026

Fatwa number: 20010

Number of views: 1

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Buying from a gas-station attendant “behind the meter”

Fatwa number: 20010

Question: A man buys fuel at a station; the attendant sometimes sells to some customers “behind the meter.” Later the buyer who purchased that way regrets it and wants to clear his liability. What is due from him?

Answer: The attendant bears primary responsibility for negligenceregarding what he was entrusted with. What he sold off-meter is upon him. As for the buyer: as it appears to me, he does not owe compensation; he should seek Allah’s forgiveness and avoid such dealings going forward—for one who deals with such a seller shares in sin, not in financial liability. Allah says: “Cooperate in righteousness and piety, and do not cooperate in sin and aggression” [al-Māʾida:2].
Jurists say: an entrusted person who commits a wrongful act or is negligent regarding the trust is liable; they did not assign liability to others—as they do in the case of a usurper.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2