What is the ruling on this form of sale (the buyers gather in a hall, and each one writes his name and the price he proposes, then the papers are collected, and then the one who gave

The questioner : Shaykh, there is a type of sale about which we want to know the ruling of the Shari'ah. Its form is that those who want to buy the item gather in a hall, and then each one of them writes his name and writes the price he proposes. For example, if he wants to buy a car, he writes eight thousand, or nine thousand, or ten thousand. Then the papers are collected and then opened. The one who gave the highest price is the one to whom the car is sold, for example, or the item. Is this type of sale permissible or not?

The Shaykh : If the form you are talking about is a real, practical form, and there is nothing of manipulation or agreement among the parties who came to buy at a price intended to reach the purchase of the needed item at the lowest prices, if there is nothing of that, then it is permissible, because it is from the category of bidding. In fact, this is purer than public bidding. But we know that sometimes those who gather conspire and agree with one another, and they pretend that one is paying, for example, five, and the second is paying six, and so on, until they reach a million, while it is worth two hundred or three hundred thousand. So he is forced to sell it at the highest price, which is in reality a price agreed upon among the group who came to buy. So the point is: if there is no deception, the sale is permissible.