One of the forms of sale: taking a sum of money from a merchant and delivering a commodity with an agreed-upon description and price after one year
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Praise be to Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the honorable Shaykh: Ahmad al-Ja'fari , the judge of the Yadamah Governorate court, and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (464) and date 6/2/1426 AH. The questioner asked a question, the text of which is: I ask Allah to grant you assistance, success, and blessing. I also inform Your Eminity that we have found many citizens in Yadamah Governorate engaging in a type of contract, and we hope you will examine it and clarify the Islamic ruling on it. It is that a person seeking to obtain money goes to another and agrees with him to take a sum of money from him immediately in exchange for a specific number of cartons of Tide soap, to be delivered to him one year from the date
of the contract. It is known that this sum is much less than the customary value of the soap. When the term arrives, the first party delivers to the second an invoice from one of the commercial establishments for the agreed number of soap cartons. The second party has the freedom to go to the store and receive them based on the invoice, or to sell them to the same store or to another person. It is known that the second party has no need for the soap itself but wants its value, and the vast majority do not receive the soap but are content with this invoice, then they sell this soap to another person in need of money in exchange for a sum of money to be delivered after a certain period, or they appoint the first party himself to sell it and give them its price. The question, Your Eminity: Is this contract considered a type of salam contract if it meets the conditions specified by the jurists, or is it a ruse to commit riba (usury or interest) because the second party does not want this soap and does not usually receive it, but rather sells it directly, and often appoints the first party himself to sell it and cash its price? Also, if the price of a carton of soap at the time of delivery is lower than the customary price, or if a special offer with a lower price occurs at the time of delivery, a dispute sometimes arises between the two parties. I hope Your Eminity will kindly present the matter to the Permanent Committee urgently and provide us with the answer, as this type of contract is very widespread, and few are free from it, and many people
ask about the ruling on it. May Allah protect you and guide you to what is good.
After the Committee's study of the inquiry, it answered: The sale in question is a form of salam sale, and the texts indicate its validity as long as it meets certain conditions, the details of which are elaborated in the major books of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). If those conditions are met in the sale in question, then it is a valid sale, and there is no effect from the fact that the buyer in the sale in question does not want the soap in question for its own sake, but rather wants the profit from this sale. And the first buyer of that soap must not sell it until he has taken possession of it.
of the contract. It is known that this sum is much less than the customary value of the soap. When the term arrives, the first party delivers to the second an invoice from one of the commercial establishments for the agreed number of soap cartons. The second party has the freedom to go to the store and receive them based on the invoice, or to sell them to the same store or to another person. It is known that the second party has no need for the soap itself but wants its value, and the vast majority do not receive the soap but are content with this invoice, then they sell this soap to another person in need of money in exchange for a sum of money to be delivered after a certain period, or they appoint the first party himself to sell it and give them its price. The question, Your Eminity: Is this contract considered a type of salam contract if it meets the conditions specified by the jurists, or is it a ruse to commit riba (usury or interest) because the second party does not want this soap and does not usually receive it, but rather sells it directly, and often appoints the first party himself to sell it and cash its price? Also, if the price of a carton of soap at the time of delivery is lower than the customary price, or if a special offer with a lower price occurs at the time of delivery, a dispute sometimes arises between the two parties. I hope Your Eminity will kindly present the matter to the Permanent Committee urgently and provide us with the answer, as this type of contract is very widespread, and few are free from it, and many people
ask about the ruling on it. May Allah protect you and guide you to what is good.
After the Committee's study of the inquiry, it answered: The sale in question is a form of salam sale, and the texts indicate its validity as long as it meets certain conditions, the details of which are elaborated in the major books of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). If those conditions are met in the sale in question, then it is a valid sale, and there is no effect from the fact that the buyer in the sale in question does not want the soap in question for its own sake, but rather wants the profit from this sale. And the first buyer of that soap must not sell it until he has taken possession of it.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.