Investing in a filling station

It will be permissible for you to invest in the filling station which includes a Pick n Pay franchise. However, you should ensure that food items sold in the food store are Halaal.

The franchise provides services such as advertising material; pamphlets containing special offers that are available at all Pick n Pay stores in the region, and other information, on a monthly basis. You as the shopkeeper, should consider paying the monthly royalties in lieu of these services provided. This would be a loophole to validate the royalty charges in terms of Shariah, provided that these “royalties” (which in essence is a fee in lieu of the services that they provide), are a fixed monthly amount and not a percentage of your sales.