Buying a car on installments
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question: Is buying a car on installments forbidden or lawful?
Answer: There is nothing wrong with buying a car for a deferred price; whether you buy it for a deferred price due at a single time, or for a price paid in installments where you pay a portion in each period, there is no harm in that, if Allah wills. This is a form of making things easy for the Muslims.
Answer: If no contract was concluded with him before you bought the car, for example, if there was only a promise or an understanding but no contract, and then you went and bought the car and sold it to him after you had bought it, there is no harm in that.
However, if the sale to him took place before you bought the car, and you and he agreed on a contract, or you concluded the contract, and then you went and bought the car for him, this is not permissible.As he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Hakim ibn Hizam:Sunan Ibn Majah 2187Hasan (Darussalam), and it is not said that this is a sale of a described item in the debt, like salam, because it is required in the sale of a described item in the debt that the value be delivered before the parties separate, and that it not be a case of selling a debt for a debt.
The result: It is not permissible to conclude the contract before you obtain the car and take possession of it. Then, if you obtain it, take possession of it, and sell it to him for a deferred price that is higher than the immediate price, and then he goes and sells it to someone else, this is the well-known issue of tawarruq (a commodity sale used to obtain cash) among the scholars.
This is when a person needs cash, so he goes to a person and sells him a commodity for a deferred price to sell it and earn its price, on the condition that the original owner does not buy it back.
Question: Is this permissible?
Answer: This is permissible according to the majority, and it is the correct view, if Allah wills, out of need, because the poor person has no way to do otherwise except to act in this manner.
So if these conditions are met, such that the car was in the possession of the seller before he
contracted with the borrower, and the seller did not buy it, but rather the borrowing buyer sold it to someone else, there is no harm in that, if Allah wills. The price should be deferred, whether it is paid in installments over periods or in a single payment when the due date arrives; there is no harm in that.
Question: And what is prohibited in this is that the value not be determined before he knows it or takes possession of it?
Answer: If what occurred between them was only an understanding and a promise, there is no harm in that. However, if determining the price means that he concluded and finalized the contract before obtaining the car, this is not permissible.
Question: For example, I record for him, say, fifty thousand riyals, and I go to buy him a car after concluding this contract. I buy him a car, say, for thirty thousand, and he sells it for twenty-five thousand?
Answer: This is not permissible, because he sold the item before he owned it.
Answer: There is nothing wrong with buying a car for a deferred price; whether you buy it for a deferred price due at a single time, or for a price paid in installments where you pay a portion in each period, there is no harm in that, if Allah wills. This is a form of making things easy for the Muslims.
Answer: If no contract was concluded with him before you bought the car, for example, if there was only a promise or an understanding but no contract, and then you went and bought the car and sold it to him after you had bought it, there is no harm in that.
However, if the sale to him took place before you bought the car, and you and he agreed on a contract, or you concluded the contract, and then you went and bought the car for him, this is not permissible.As he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Hakim ibn Hizam:
Do not sell what is not with you.
لا تبع ما ليس عندكThe result: It is not permissible to conclude the contract before you obtain the car and take possession of it. Then, if you obtain it, take possession of it, and sell it to him for a deferred price that is higher than the immediate price, and then he goes and sells it to someone else, this is the well-known issue of tawarruq (a commodity sale used to obtain cash) among the scholars.
This is when a person needs cash, so he goes to a person and sells him a commodity for a deferred price to sell it and earn its price, on the condition that the original owner does not buy it back.
Question: Is this permissible?
Answer: This is permissible according to the majority, and it is the correct view, if Allah wills, out of need, because the poor person has no way to do otherwise except to act in this manner.
So if these conditions are met, such that the car was in the possession of the seller before he
contracted with the borrower, and the seller did not buy it, but rather the borrowing buyer sold it to someone else, there is no harm in that, if Allah wills. The price should be deferred, whether it is paid in installments over periods or in a single payment when the due date arrives; there is no harm in that.
Question: And what is prohibited in this is that the value not be determined before he knows it or takes possession of it?
Answer: If what occurred between them was only an understanding and a promise, there is no harm in that. However, if determining the price means that he concluded and finalized the contract before obtaining the car, this is not permissible.
Question: For example, I record for him, say, fifty thousand riyals, and I go to buy him a car after concluding this contract. I buy him a car, say, for thirty thousand, and he sells it for twenty-five thousand?
Answer: This is not permissible, because he sold the item before he owned it.