The Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): “Whoever sells two sales in one sale, it is for him the lesser of the two prices or usury”

The questioner : Shaykh, the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): , and when the narrator of the hadith was asked about “two sales in one sale,” he said: “It is when you say: I sell you this for such-and-such cash and such-and-such on credit.” The other hadith is from Ibn ‘Umar: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited two sales in one sale.” Some people say regarding the first hadith that “two sales in one sale” does not mean installment sales with some usury attached to it, and that the increase mentioned in the question or the hadith: “You say: I sell you this for such-and-such cash” to the end of the hadith is not authentic. What is your opinion?

The Shaykh : How do you mean it is not authentic? Why is it not authentic?

The questioner : The first answer regarding their opinion that “two sales in one sale” does not mean installment sales...

The Shaykh : This is a denial. First: what is intended? This is not intended. First: what is intended? And second: why is the hadith not authentic? Is he from the scholars of hadith?

The questioner : No, he is not from the scholars of hadith.

The Shaykh : What is the value of his words, I mean?

The questioner : They want clarification regarding this matter.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : They want clarification regarding this matter.

The Shaykh : So what is the restriction? I am telling you: a lesson in hadith, I am telling you: bring the book.

The questioner : Regarding installment sales or something like that.

The Shaykh : I understand, my brother. Your question has two parts: one is in explaining the hadith, and the second is in the authenticity of the hadith.

The questioner : ... the authenticity of the hadith.

The Shaykh : Okay, so you reported that he says: it is not authentic, so we need...

The questioner : No, I am telling you, their statement, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : I understand, but you said you reported his statement for what? For me to listen and be silent, or for me to listen and respond?

Another questioner : ... he means that they criticized the narrator’s own words when he explained “two sales in one sale” as “for such-and-such cash.”

The Shaykh : No, he clarified to us that what they criticized was his saying: .

Another questioner : No, he means they criticized the narrator’s explanation of the meaning of “two sales in one sale.” Is this criticism valid in its place?

The Shaykh : No, and even if he intended this, it is not valid.
My brother, the meaning is clear from both hadiths, and the truth is that in each of the two hadiths there is a benefit that is not found in the other. In the first hadith, there is an explanation of “two sales in one sale.” In the second hadith, there is a clarification of the validity of the sale in “two sales in one sale” with the invalidation of the increase. This is an important point; because the default ruling of prohibition in contracts implies invalidity. So this is a prohibition: “He prohibited two sales in one sale.” If it were not for the second hadith, we would say: the sale is invalid. But the second hadith established the validity of the sale and the invalidity of the increase, because what does it say: ; meaning he is allowed to take the lesser price. So is the sale valid or invalid?

Another questioner: Correct.

The Shaykh : Since he gave him this right—which is the lesser of the two prices—it means the ruling is that the sale is valid, but it established that if he takes the increase, it becomes usury. The first hadith does not give us this benefit; it prohibits two sales in one sale, and prohibition in transactions implies invalidity, like his prohibition of selling with excessive uncertainty, for example. So if someone bought fish in the water, this did not take effect; it is invalid. If someone bought wool on sheep, this sale did not become valid; it is invalid, and so on. So this second hadith gave us this benefit, which is that the sale proceeds and is valid, but the increase is invalid.
The first hadith explained the hadith for us in a way that we use to refute those who interpret the hadith of “two sales in one sale” as meaning, for example, a buy-back sale. It meant a buy-back sale. Do you know a buy-back sale, I think? The narrator of the hadith, Sammak ibn Harb, was asked by one of them: What is “two sales in one sale”? He said: “It is when you say: I sell you this for such-and-such cash, and for such-and-such on credit.” The chain of this narration is a strong chain, and it is in “Musnad Imam Ahmad.” So we need to know, if the intention is scientific research, we need to know this person who says that this narration is not authentic, where is the defect? So that we can clarify the answer to that.
Then finally we say: What is the meaning of “two sales in one sale”? No, we say to those who weaken this explanation and this clarification: this explanation and this clarification, you are weakening the establishment of that from the narrator. We have crossed it out, and the hadith remains bare: “He prohibited two sales in one sale.” What is the meaning of “two sales in one sale”? He will say: It means a buy-back sale. We say to him: A buy-back sale does not apply to: .

Another questioner : Meaning the basis is invalid.

The Shaykh : First: the basis is invalid, and then in a buy-back sale, the buyer who buys to take the money as a loan, meaning through going back and forth and making lawful what Allah has forbidden; this person has no need for the item to be said: . The buyer has no need for this merchandise; meaning this man who comes to a car dealership owner, he tells him: I want this car for thirty thousand. The one who wants its price for thirty thousand on installment, he tells him: Okay, he registers it for him. Before the ink has even dried, as they say, on the paper, the buyer returns and says: Will you buy this car from me for cash? He buys it from him for twenty-five thousand. He profits at least two or three thousand from him. It is a profitable sale, meaning an installment sale. Then he imposes his increase on him and gives him the cash price of the car for twenty-five thousand. He is left with a debt of five thousand. Okay, here, this person who bought this car through a buy-back sale, and this person who sold this car through a buy-back sale; it is not possible to say: ; because the first buyer has no need for the merchandise.
To clarify further: Suppose the car’s capital cost to the merchant is twenty-eight thousand. He sells it for twenty-nine thousand cash, and for thirty thousand on credit. This is a supposition, of course. The profit might be more than this; it does not concern us to discuss the example. Okay, so he sold it to this man for thirty thousand. How much did he take as an increase? One thousand. No, one thousand; because we assumed its capital was twenty-eight thousand. He profits one thousand on the cash sale, and a second thousand on the installment sale, as we assumed. So this man took one thousand increase from him in exchange for what? Installments. But quickly the buyer became a seller, and the seller became a buyer; correct? The first buyer, the one who was registered for thirty thousand, returned and sold this car to the merchant himself for how much? For twenty-five thousand, for example, or twenty-six thousand. It does not concern us to stop at the example either. So he took twenty-five thousand and registered thirty thousand for him. It is open usury.
Here, if we want to apply the hadith: , what is the meaning of the hadith? Its meaning is that the merchant is allowed to take twenty-nine thousand, and he is not allowed to take the one thousand increase. Okay, but this person who bought through a buy-back sale did not intend a car from the start; he intended the money. And there would be fights between the two if we wanted to apply the hadith to them. But this hadith is applied to the one who actually buys; one who desires the purchased item in an installment sale. And that other person also sells him intending an installment sale, but he profits from him with an impermissible profit. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) says: For you is the lesser of the two prices, and if you take the increase, you are only eating usury! However we turn it, we cannot understand from “two sales in one sale” except that explanation which the Companion-narrator of the hadith, Ibn Mas‘ud, explained.