Continuation of the discussion on the ruling of installment sales, specifically those involving banks.

The Shaykh : ... They used to say that if someone requested five hundred, with strict details, restrictions, and precise conditions that a poor person might not be able to meet, they would give five hundred, no more. But if the request was a thousand or more, they would say no, and they continued to say no, even to the one who wanted five hundred, because this door was closed. Why was it closed? Because it was not for the sake of implementing the Sharia ruling. It was not a loan of two dinars as charity of one dinar; that was not the intention. We have not looked into what is in people's hearts, but:
"These are our deeds that testify to us, *** So look at the deeds after we are gone,"
Why did they not continue with this good loan? Because it was not for the sake of Allah; it was for the sake of advertising. The Islamic bank has a good loan so that this good loan becomes a means to attract customers from banks that have not put up the sign "Islamic Bank." When they felt that the customers had increased, there was no longer a need for them to continue with the door of the good loan, just as they say in Syria, using the example of some people with ulterior motives: "I stopped praying after I got what I wanted, so I stopped praying." So this loan was advertising. Therefore, now if you want to borrow five hundred dinars as they used to lend before, this loan is no longer available. They will tell you, "What do you want?" And I, for example, want so many tons of iron or cement, or whatever. They say, "Go, take what you want, and we will pay for you." What is the bank doing then? Suppose a ton of iron is worth one hundred dinars. In the name of Allah, one hundred dinars cash. But on installment, the merchants are also facing this problem. On installment, it is one hundred and ten, or twenty, depending on the goods. I go to the Islamic bank, pay one hundred, and they record one hundred and ten on the buyer. This extra ten is in exchange for what? In exchange for the loan? No, absolutely not. In this case, the Islamic bank is in a worse state than the merchant. The merchant is selling at two prices: the cash price and the installment price. We mentioned two hadiths earlier in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade that and considered the increase to be riba (usury or interest), even though he actually sold. But the bank neither sold nor bought; all it did was mediate in paying the money. Instead of the bank giving the price of this ton of iron, which is one hundred dinars, to the needy person, it gives it to the merchant. It does not give it to the buyer; it tells him, "You go, take it from the merchant, and we will settle with the merchant." Why? Because if it wanted to give him one hundred and record one hundred and ten, that would be riba. That is obvious, and they are a religious group who do not want to fall into what is riba. "Your eye was your eye," as they say. So, through the roundabout and the turn, through the double transaction, you go, take your need, and that is all. He took his need, so instead of recording the same value, one hundred dinars, they record one hundred and ten, or one hundred and five. The percentage is not important; the important thing is the increase, which is riba by the explicit text of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).