The ruling on selling a commodity to a debtor so that he can pay off his previous debt
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The first question says: Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. He says: I am a man who sells cars on installment, and one of my customers has a remaining balance of twelve thousand riyals. Then he came to me and said, “Sell me a second car on installment, and I will give you the remaining amount in my debt.” Is it permissible to sell the car in order for him to pay me the amount? After selling it, he sells it to pay me. Please advise us. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
This transaction is not permissible. If you have a debt with a man and the time for its repayment has arrived, it is not permissible for you to sell him a commodity in order for him to pay you this debt.
Because this is a stratagem to transform the debt. This is a stratagem to reach riba (usury or interest), the riba of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah). In the pre-Islamic age, and those who follow their example in our time, when the debt became due on the debtor, they would say to him: either you increase it, or you pay it, or you add to it—meaning, we will extend the term for you and increase the amount. We will give you another term and increase the amount. This is riba al-mashi’ah (usury of choice), the riba of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. This is a type of riba. However, what is done by selling a commodity to the debtor in order to pay off the first debt, while the second debt remains in the total, is the same operation, except that it is done through a stratagem. And stratagems are not permissible. Therefore, what is obligatory is: if he is unable to pay, you should remind him of the verse of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:280] This means you should be lenient with the amount and forgive him, which is better for you. Or you should give him time. Or a third situation: he goes and borrows from someone else. There is no harm in him borrowing from another person and paying you your debt. But you, no, do not sell to him a second time in order to pay off the first one.
The first question says: Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings. He says: I am a man who sells cars on installment, and one of my customers has a remaining balance of twelve thousand riyals. Then he came to me and said, “Sell me a second car on installment, and I will give you the remaining amount in my debt.” Is it permissible to sell the car in order for him to pay me the amount? After selling it, he sells it to pay me. Please advise us. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
This transaction is not permissible. If you have a debt with a man and the time for its repayment has arrived, it is not permissible for you to sell him a commodity in order for him to pay you this debt.
Because this is a stratagem to transform the debt. This is a stratagem to reach riba (usury or interest), the riba of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah). In the pre-Islamic age, and those who follow their example in our time, when the debt became due on the debtor, they would say to him: either you increase it, or you pay it, or you add to it—meaning, we will extend the term for you and increase the amount. We will give you another term and increase the amount. This is riba al-mashi’ah (usury of choice), the riba of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. This is a type of riba. However, what is done by selling a commodity to the debtor in order to pay off the first debt, while the second debt remains in the total, is the same operation, except that it is done through a stratagem. And stratagems are not permissible. Therefore, what is obligatory is: if he is unable to pay, you should remind him of the verse of Allah the Exalted:
And if someone is in hardship, then [let there be] postponement until [a time of] ease. But if you give [from your right as] charity, then it is better for you
وَإِن كَانَ ذُو عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيْسَرَةٍ وَأَن تَصَدَّقُوا خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-048-تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والرسل|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (54:33)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.