The Ruling on Dealing in Car Installments

The questioner : He says: Honorable Shaykh, a man deals in car installments.

The Shaykh : What?

The questioner : A man deals in car installments, meaning he buys cars and then sells them on installments, extending credit to people. So how does he pay its zakah? Is it with every installment? Or when he has collected the full price of the car?

The Shaykh : I do not see the permissibility of the installment system known among people, which is when a person needs a commodity, then he goes to the merchant and says, "I need such-and-such a commodity." The merchant then goes to its owner, buys it, and sells it to this person in need. I see that this transaction is invalid and forbidden, and that it is a ruse very close to riba (usury or interest). Instead of giving him money and saying, "Take this money and buy the commodity you want," and this thousand is for a thousand and two hundred over a year, he comes with this Syrian contract, where, had there been no demand, he would not have gone to buy it. So this transaction is forbidden in its origin. And if it is forbidden, I will not issue a ruling on what follows from it regarding the zakah question. Let someone else be asked?
So that it is not thought that if I issue a ruling on the zakah due in it, I have approved the origin of the transaction. And the origin of the transaction, in my view, is invalid and forbidden. And whoever fears Allah the Exalted should keep away from it. And when we compare this close ruse with the ruse of the Jews, about which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "May Allah fight the Jews."
When the fats were forbidden to them, they rendered them into tallow, then melted them and ate their price. The fats were forbidden to the Jews, and it was said that fat is forbidden. So what did they do? They began melting the fat until it became oil, then they sold the oil and ate its price. So did they eat the fat? No, nor the oil either. They merely transformed the fat into oil, and then the oil into its price. And they are clever; they did not go selling the fat directly, fearing that it would be said, "This is a ruse." But it is a ruse behind a ruse: they melted it first, then sold it and ate the price. And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) called this a ruse and prayed that Allah would fight them for it. Which is closer: this ruse, or the ruse of those who sell on installments in the manner mentioned in the question?
The latter is a closer ruse. It is a very easy ruse: I buy the commodity you want, then I sell it to you for a deferred price that is higher, as if I gave you its cash value now and you bought it, and then I added to it. In reality, there is no difference. And ruses do not make the forbidden lawful, ever. Rather, they increase the ugliness of the forbidden, because it is a ruse, a stratagem, and a deception of Allah the Exalted. So whoever deals in this transaction should fear Allah the Exalted and know that this world, by Allah, is not a place of permanent abode, and that accumulating wealth in it is not the true joy. The true joy is in faith and the fear of Allah the Exalted. And a person should leave what is in doubt, out of caution regarding the forbidden with certainty. So how about a thing whose doubt is clear? We ask Allah for our brothers safety and guidance. And this is the last question.

The presenter : May Allah reward our father and our Shaykh with the best reward, and benefit us with his knowledge. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon His servant and Messenger Muhammad.

The Shaykh : And the day of cinema arrived.