A Form of Riba
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A man’s son pressed him to buy a car, so he went to one of the companies and they asked for the price in cash, but he did not have it, so he returned and brought another person to buy it for him. That person bought it and took it out of the showroom, then sold it to this man for a higher price. What is the ruling?
The situation is now clear to you: a person needed a car and did not have cash, so another man came and said: I will buy it from the company for cash and sell it to you on installments for more than the price I paid for it.And the answer: This is forbidden, and it is a ruse to circumvent riba; because the one who bought it and then sold it to you, in reality, has lent you its price with interest.Instead of saying: Take the price, he says: This is fifty thousand, and you owe sixty thousand over one year.He said: I will buy it and sell it to you, and if it were not for you, I would not have bought it, and if it were not for the riba he gains from you, he would not have bought it. So in reality, it is riba, but it may involve deceiving the Lord of the Worlds (Mighty and Majestic), in that when Allah forbade explicit riba, this man went to use a ruse and merely changed the appearance. Changing the appearance does not turn a forbidden thing into a lawful one.
So here are the People of the Sabbath, whom Allah forbade from hunting in the sea on the day of Sabbath. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) tested them, and the fish on the day of Sabbath would come to the surface of the water in great numbers, while on days other than the Sabbath they would not come. So the time became long for them: on the day of Sabbath hunting was forbidden to us and the fish came in abundance, while on days other than the Sabbath they did not come to us. So they devised a ruse: they would place a net on Friday, so the fish would come on the day of Sabbath and fall into these nets and be unable to get out. When Sunday came, they would come and take them from the nets. The appearance of the actual situation was that they hunted on Sunday, and did not hunt on the Sabbath; it was the fish that came and fell into the nets, they did not bring them or hold them. Did this ruse benefit them?Allah the Exalted said: [al-Baqarah:65] So He made them transgressors on the Sabbath, [al-Baqarah:65] .
Allah commanded them by a cosmic decree to become apes, despised, so they became apes, howling, and they had been human yesterday; because they used ruses to circumvent the prohibitions of Allah.And for this reason, our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us: (May Allah curse the Jews; when Allah forbade them the fat of carrion, they melted the fat and sold it and ate its price) , and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as narrated by Ahmad in al-Musnad with a chain that some of the imams authenticated: (Do not do what the Jews did, so that you would make lawful the prohibitions of Allah by the slightest of ruses) . So this transaction, as I mentioned, is undoubtedly a transaction involving a clear ruse to circumvent riba. So it is forbidden for the one who gives the riba, and for the one who takes this riba; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who eats riba, the one who gives it, the two witnesses, and the scribe.
The questioner: And the solution, may Allah reward you with good?The Shaykh: The solution is that each of them repents to Allah. As for the one who bought the car and then sold it to this man for a higher price, part of the completion of his repentance is that he does not take the increase from this man. And as long as the second one, who took the car, was ignorant, then he owes nothing except to pay the original price to this man. But if each of them was aware that it is forbidden, then the seller who took the increase is not permitted to take it, but it is to be placed in the public treasury and not deducted from the buyer; because the buyer is one who violates the prohibition, and there is a difference between one who violates the prohibition and one who is ignorant. So if each of them was ignorant, the way now is that the one who sold it for profit, or for riba in reality, should say: My capital is sufficient for me, and I do not want anything else.
And with this, this session and this meeting ends, and I ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to make it beneficial, and until a future meeting, and may peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you.
The situation is now clear to you: a person needed a car and did not have cash, so another man came and said: I will buy it from the company for cash and sell it to you on installments for more than the price I paid for it.And the answer: This is forbidden, and it is a ruse to circumvent riba; because the one who bought it and then sold it to you, in reality, has lent you its price with interest.Instead of saying: Take the price, he says: This is fifty thousand, and you owe sixty thousand over one year.He said: I will buy it and sell it to you, and if it were not for you, I would not have bought it, and if it were not for the riba he gains from you, he would not have bought it. So in reality, it is riba, but it may involve deceiving the Lord of the Worlds (Mighty and Majestic), in that when Allah forbade explicit riba, this man went to use a ruse and merely changed the appearance. Changing the appearance does not turn a forbidden thing into a lawful one.
So here are the People of the Sabbath, whom Allah forbade from hunting in the sea on the day of Sabbath. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) tested them, and the fish on the day of Sabbath would come to the surface of the water in great numbers, while on days other than the Sabbath they would not come. So the time became long for them: on the day of Sabbath hunting was forbidden to us and the fish came in abundance, while on days other than the Sabbath they did not come to us. So they devised a ruse: they would place a net on Friday, so the fish would come on the day of Sabbath and fall into these nets and be unable to get out. When Sunday came, they would come and take them from the nets. The appearance of the actual situation was that they hunted on Sunday, and did not hunt on the Sabbath; it was the fish that came and fell into the nets, they did not bring them or hold them. Did this ruse benefit them?Allah the Exalted said:
And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath
وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ الَّذِينَ اعْتَدَوْا مِنْكُمْ فِي السَّبْتِand We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَAllah commanded them by a cosmic decree to become apes, despised, so they became apes, howling, and they had been human yesterday; because they used ruses to circumvent the prohibitions of Allah.And for this reason, our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us: (May Allah curse the Jews; when Allah forbade them the fat of carrion, they melted the fat and sold it and ate its price) , and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as narrated by Ahmad in al-Musnad with a chain that some of the imams authenticated: (Do not do what the Jews did, so that you would make lawful the prohibitions of Allah by the slightest of ruses) . So this transaction, as I mentioned, is undoubtedly a transaction involving a clear ruse to circumvent riba. So it is forbidden for the one who gives the riba, and for the one who takes this riba; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who eats riba, the one who gives it, the two witnesses, and the scribe.
The questioner: And the solution, may Allah reward you with good?The Shaykh: The solution is that each of them repents to Allah. As for the one who bought the car and then sold it to this man for a higher price, part of the completion of his repentance is that he does not take the increase from this man. And as long as the second one, who took the car, was ignorant, then he owes nothing except to pay the original price to this man. But if each of them was aware that it is forbidden, then the seller who took the increase is not permitted to take it, but it is to be placed in the public treasury and not deducted from the buyer; because the buyer is one who violates the prohibition, and there is a difference between one who violates the prohibition and one who is ignorant. So if each of them was ignorant, the way now is that the one who sold it for profit, or for riba in reality, should say: My capital is sufficient for me, and I do not want anything else.
And with this, this session and this meeting ends, and I ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to make it beneficial, and until a future meeting, and may peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you.