Going on dutch

A few days before my colleague's last day at work, we went for lunch at Swensen's, to.. err.. celebrate?.. commemorate?.. or just have our 'last lunch' with her. We agreed to go on dutch. I was planning on not eating too much at Swensen's. I don't quite like the feeling of being too full. I thought I would just order Fries and Waffle with vanilla ice cream. Ok, that won't cost much.

However, when I was there, I felt some kind of 'internal mental pressure' to order a full meal. I wanted to avoid all the questions like 'why eat so little??'... 'you're ordering only THAT??', 'Aiyoh.. no wonder u're so small!' I was not in the mood to justify my lunch. I decided to go with the flow. Ordered a set lunch meal. Did my very best to finish it, up to the point where the mere thought of food makes me feel like puking. Then I hated myself for feeling too full.

When it was time to pay for the 'dutched' lunch, the payer divided the whole bill equally by (the number of people who attended, less the girl who resigned).
Hmm.... if I had ordered only fries and waffle - I would have been at the losing end. I'd still have to pay for someone's full meal.

Going on dutch. This term does not spell out the 'dutching' part clearly. How do you share the cost? Do you share it equally or do we pay for what we eat? If we are to follow our Islamic Mua'malat Rules - all terms and conditions must be clear to all parties - so as not to let anyone be at a losing end, unless he is CLEARLY aware of it and agrees to it.

So I started to mentally draft out... or now blogging, the furu' of Going on Dutch.

1. Going on Proportioned Dutch. (GPD)
This is where, the bill is shared in accordance to what the person ordered. The person would also still have to pay for the service charge and taxes that comes with the total bill. So the formula for each person would be.
(Cost of each person's meal/ Total Cost less taxes) * Total Costs with Taxes.

According to the ulama of 'Going on Dutch' (mua), - this type is most preferable.

2. Going on EQUAL Dutch. (GED)
This is where the whole bill, including taxes, will be divided equally amongst attendees, no matter who ordered what. So even if the person goes there to have a bowl of soup, he'd still have to pay part of someone's bigger meal, or more unfortunately a glutton's meal, if there were any in the group.

According to the ulama, this type is obviously not preferable.

3. Going on proportioned Dutch, less the person being treated for lunch by others. (GPD plus)
In this category the person will pay for his own meal, and the equally shared proportion of the treated person's meal, plus taxes.
The formula is a bit more complicated.
[(Cost of each person's meal + (cost of treated person's meal / (no. of pax - no. of treated person)) / Total Cost less taxes] * Total Costs with Taxes.

According to the ulama, - this type is 'harus' or allowed.

So there you have it.. Mua'malat on Going on Dutch. And if any of you ask me to go on dutch - kindly specify the furu'.