The Shaykh’s Explanation of the Hadith on the Buy-Back Sale
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : This is an example of those examples, and perhaps all those present know what the buy-back sale is. It is a type of usurious sale, and it is one of the trials that some Islamic countries are afflicted with today. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says explicitly in this hadith: That is, because of their disobedience to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in some of what He has legislated, it is right for Allah to subject the disobedient to humiliation. He mentioned, by way of example, what causes the distress of the Muslims: the buy-back sale. I say that he mentioned it by way of example, not by way of specific designation. It is an example of many rulings that some people make permissible through figurative interpretation or through deception. The buy-back sale is called a sale, and some may cite as evidence for it the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah 2:275] They ask, “Why do you prohibit the buy-back sale? This is a sale covered by the text of the noble verse.” We say that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) addressed His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) among other things He addressed him with, saying: [An-Nahl 16:44] Therefore, the sale mentioned in the previous verse must have its details taken from the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his statements. Since he prohibited the buy-back sale, it is not permissible for us to include this type of sale in the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Baqarah 2:275]
The buy-back sale is a form of exchange resorted to by one who needs to borrow a sum of money. He knows, because of the corruption of society, that the Muslims today do not have that strong bond of faith that would lead some of them to support their poor or needy brother. The good loan, the loan for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), has disappeared among the Muslims today. Therefore, they are afflicted by the love of money and its accumulation, even the poor, even those who are financially weak. They resort to borrowing money through an unlawful means, such as the buy-back sale. The buy-back sale is when a man who needs a loan goes to a large merchant, and let us assume this merchant is a car dealer, or a dealer in rice or sugar or the like. He asks the merchant to buy a car from him, and they agree on an installment price that is higher than the cash price. So he buys the car, for example, for twenty thousand dinars, while its cash price is seventeen or eighteen thousand. He is recorded in the accounting ledger as owing twenty thousand for the price of this car. The reality is that the one who came to buy the car has no need for the car; he wants to obtain money. How does he obtain the money after buying the car for twenty thousand on installments? This buyer returns to sell this car to the seller, the merchant himself, and sells it to him for less than what he bought it for, but he sells it for cash, whereas he bought it on credit, i.e., on installments. They agree, for example, that he will receive eighteen thousand, so he takes it and drives off with it, while twenty thousand is recorded against him. This is pure usury, but the sale was introduced as a means to make permissible what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has forbidden. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned his Ummah from this sale, which involves deception regarding the usury that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has forbidden. I say that this is an example, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not mention it by way of specific designation, but rather by way of illustration of some of the rulings that some people follow in order to deceive regarding the rulings of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
If you trade with one another through the buy-back sale, Allah will subject you to humiliation.
إذا تبايعتم بالعينة سلط الله عليكم ذلاBut Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest.
و أحل الله البيع و حرم الرباAnd We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them
و أنزلنا إليك الذكر لتبين للناس ما نزل إليهمBut Allah has permitted trade
وأحل الله البيعThe buy-back sale is a form of exchange resorted to by one who needs to borrow a sum of money. He knows, because of the corruption of society, that the Muslims today do not have that strong bond of faith that would lead some of them to support their poor or needy brother. The good loan, the loan for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), has disappeared among the Muslims today. Therefore, they are afflicted by the love of money and its accumulation, even the poor, even those who are financially weak. They resort to borrowing money through an unlawful means, such as the buy-back sale. The buy-back sale is when a man who needs a loan goes to a large merchant, and let us assume this merchant is a car dealer, or a dealer in rice or sugar or the like. He asks the merchant to buy a car from him, and they agree on an installment price that is higher than the cash price. So he buys the car, for example, for twenty thousand dinars, while its cash price is seventeen or eighteen thousand. He is recorded in the accounting ledger as owing twenty thousand for the price of this car. The reality is that the one who came to buy the car has no need for the car; he wants to obtain money. How does he obtain the money after buying the car for twenty thousand on installments? This buyer returns to sell this car to the seller, the merchant himself, and sells it to him for less than what he bought it for, but he sells it for cash, whereas he bought it on credit, i.e., on installments. They agree, for example, that he will receive eighteen thousand, so he takes it and drives off with it, while twenty thousand is recorded against him. This is pure usury, but the sale was introduced as a means to make permissible what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has forbidden. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned his Ummah from this sale, which involves deception regarding the usury that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has forbidden. I say that this is an example, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not mention it by way of specific designation, but rather by way of illustration of some of the rulings that some people follow in order to deceive regarding the rulings of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).