A man bought a car on installment from a person and paid installments, then he liked another one, so he returned the first one for less than its price and took the second one. What is the ruling?
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The questioner : And this says: A man bought a car from a man on monthly installments. After a year had passed since the sale and the use of the car, he found a new car with the seller. He returned the first one to him for a price lower than what he had paid for it, then he took the new one and added some money to the first one, such that it would be on installments, starting from the end of the installments of the first one. Is this sale valid?
The Shaykh : It is not valid, because if a person sells something on a deferred price, he must not buy it back for less, no matter what the circumstances are, except if a defect occurs in the item that reduces its value by the amount of the defect. In that case, there is no harm. For example, if he bought a car for one hundred thousand on a one-year term, and then the car was hit and became worth only fifty thousand if sold, then he taking it for that amount is fine, because this reduction was in exchange for what? The defect that occurred, and not in exchange for paying the price in advance. And even with this, it is better to avoid it. That is, we say to the one who bought the car: Sell it in the market and buy with the money you receive whatever you want, from the first seller or from someone else.
The Shaykh : It is not valid, because if a person sells something on a deferred price, he must not buy it back for less, no matter what the circumstances are, except if a defect occurs in the item that reduces its value by the amount of the defect. In that case, there is no harm. For example, if he bought a car for one hundred thousand on a one-year term, and then the car was hit and became worth only fifty thousand if sold, then he taking it for that amount is fine, because this reduction was in exchange for what? The defect that occurred, and not in exchange for paying the price in advance. And even with this, it is better to avoid it. That is, we say to the one who bought the car: Sell it in the market and buy with the money you receive whatever you want, from the first seller or from someone else.