Discussion on installment sales.

The Shaykh : To conclude, I will now give an example of what all Islamic banks are currently doing, which is observing the price difference between cash sales and installment sales. This is, of course, well known. Now, bring me an Islamic bank that sells at the same price whether cash or installment; that is impossible. Why? Because this is the system upon which European banks were established. So if we modify something, meaning if we deviate somewhat from the disbeliever banks, that does not mean we have modified the bank system from its origin, from its branch, from its root. No, despite that, this simple modification required them to put up this huge sign: "Islamic Bank." An Islamic bank exists in an Islamic society.
The Shaykh: And on this occasion, I am pleased that an officer came to me, from Zarqa, perhaps our brothers there sent him to me. I had not seen him before. As soon as he sat down, he sized up my house. As soon as he sat with me, it was as if Allah wanted to warn me, as if saying, "Be careful." It does not mean it is a battle, but that you do not get entangled; you speak a word to a person when another word should be said. Immediately he said to me, "What is your opinion of the Islamic bank?" I understood that he wanted to inquire about what concerns riba and installment sales, and so on. So I came to him from the nearest path. I said to him, "What is your opinion of the Islamic society? Do you like it?" He said, "No." I said to him, "No."
The Shaykh: I do not like the Islamic bank. This Islamic bank stems from this Islamic society. When there is a truly Islamic society, there is an Islamic bank. You know that there are books written on Islamic socialism, is that right or not?
Al-Halabi: Yes.

The Shaykh : And I do not know, by Allah, my weak memory is not helping me, that there are other names as well, all described as Islamic. Here, Islamic anthems, okay. So I fear, and I fear most, that one day we will see a book on Islamic communism. I fear, and I fear most, that we will see one day, frankly, Islamic communism. No, that is far off. Whoever did not rule out, a quarter of a century ago, that a book on Islamic socialism would appear—we did not rule this out, but it has become a reality and several books have been written.
The Shaykh: And therefore, the fact that it is named the Islamic Bank does not mean that it deals according to the methodology of the Islamic Shari'ah. The clearest example is that they differentiate between the cash price and the installment price. Why? Because this Islamic society deals this way today. Fatwas have been issued permitting this transaction, or not? Of course, fatwas have been issued, and from high centers. And we can say that some of their shaykhs are known. But these people issued fatwas based on what is in the madhhab, while there are other opinions from the righteous Salaf. If we leave aside some hadiths and the wisdom of legislation, we find that some say that it is not permissible to sell at two different prices: the cash price is less than the installment price, and the installment price is more than the cash price. This is despite the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): And the saying of Ibn Mas'ud: It was asked of the narrator of the hadith, Sammak ibn Harb: "What are two sales in one transaction?" He said: "That you say, 'I will sell you this for so much in cash, and for so much on credit.' I will sell you this bag for one dinar in cash, and for one dinar and a fils on installment. This fils is riba. Why? Because in this transaction and reality, the greatest witness, you have nullified an Islamic creation. It is used in Islamic banks under a name. What is it? Al-Qard al-Hasan (the good loan). Where is the good loan? Any person who wants to take a good loan from any bank, they may give him one hundred dinars, two hundred dinars, and after what? Iron chains surround him until he can hardly say, 'May Allah make me rich enough to be free of this good loan.'
The Shaykh: As for you, if you need to establish a business, or you need to build a house to shelter you and your family, and they lend you thousands upon thousands for the sake of Allah, this is nullified. Why? Because there is installment sales. Installment sales is a disbeliever system. We have in the Shari'ah, in some authentic hadiths: A loan of two hundred dinars is like if you gave one hundred dinars in charity. This transaction does not exist in the Islamic society today. It is ink on paper. The reason is that we do not live in an Islamic society. And therefore, Islamic banks stem from these societies, so they do not proceed according to Islam except to a certain extent. And from here we arrive at some people who truly are strict in issuing harsh and severe rulings against the Muslim rulers who rule them, and unfortunately, they do not rule by what Allah has revealed. This is a fact that no one can deny. But that does not equate to issuing rulings declaring them disbelievers and that it is obligatory to rebel against them and fight them. And there is not among those who issue such fatwas a power that they can use to fight the Jews. So how do they say a ruling that they cannot enforce in all the Islamic lands and with their rulers, because they rule by other than what Allah has revealed? This is a bitter truth.
The Shaykh: But from the jurisprudential aspect, it does not mean that everyone who rules by other than what Allah has revealed is an apostate from his religion, except in one case: if it appears that this ruler does not recognize Islam and believes and declares that ruling by Islam is not suitable in this time. Then there is no doubt that he is a disbeliever, an apostate from his religion, without any disagreement between two Muslims.
The Shaykh: The summary: strictness and ease. We should not condemn these people and praise those people except within the limits of what Allah has prescribed. Yes, did I say something? Okay, let's go. Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise. I testify that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
The Shaykh: We came hoping to see you so that we could gain much from your time, but we lost, as Allah wills, and the replacement is from Allah, if Allah wills, on another occasion. May Allah preserve you. Peace be upon you.


The Shaykh : ... As he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I have left among you, O group of Companions, two very important matters: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah. Meaning, it is not permissible to separate the Book of Allah from the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, it is obligatory that action continue between them until the Day of Resurrection and rising.
The Shaykh: Contrary to what some people claim today, and this is a dangerous deviation. That we do not recognize anything other than the Qur'an. And the one who says this is one who exits Islam, whether he wills it or not, whether he feels it or not. Because the Qur'an contains the saying of Blessed and Exalted is He: And the scholars of tafsir have agreed that the return to Allah in this verse is the return to the Book of Allah, and the return to the Messenger is the return to his Sunnah. So whoever refuses to return to the Sunnah disbelieves in the Qur'an, let alone the Sunnah. Because if he does not believe except in the Qur'an, how does he understand this noble verse: And it is His word and it is His Sunnah.
The Shaykh: And to many other things, such as His saying, the Exalted: And upon that, recognizing the authentic Sunnah is a protection for the Muslim who truly adheres to the Shari'ah, from leaning to the right or the left, or being among the misguided sects about which the Messenger (peace be upon him) informed in the authentic hadith when he said: A very serious matter. One of the three and seventy sects. This one is the saved sect, and the two and seventy sects are the perishing sects. So it is obligatory for the Muslim to know who the saved sect is, so that he may be from it, or follow it and tread its path. Who is it? So they directed this question to the Messenger (peace be upon him), and he said: He has two answers, (peace and blessings be upon him). And the first thing that comes to mind from this word is al-Jama'ah (the community). It is the first community. And it is the one for which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) testified, as we mentioned, in the hadith: And the best of the generations is not my generation. Who are they, then? The Companions. So the first thing that should come to mind when we hear this infallible answer from the noble Prophet, an answer to that serious question: "Who is this saved sect, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: Then they are the Companions. Then those who follow them. As in the hadith: Then those who follow them.
And an explanation of this term, *al-jama'ah* (the community), has come in another narration, namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Therefore, from a scholarly perspective, regarding our contemporary situation today: it is not sufficient to merely claim the call to the truth, which is the Book and the Sunnah. This is not enough; rather, it is necessary to add to that what the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were upon. For that reason, it is obligatory for the Muslim to know every issue in light of three things: the Book, the Sunnah, and the Companions.
Because these Companions are the ones who received the Book and the Sunnah fresh and pure from the mouth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then they received it from him (peace and blessings be upon him) as a practical application. As for us, we do not know how we would interpret a certain verse or a certain hadith if we removed this intermediary between us and the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). But wherever we rely in interpreting that verse on those who received it from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) fresh and pure, as we mentioned, and who also applied it practically, we are on the guidance of Allah. And we will be among the saved sect.
And this was confirmed by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), concluding this topic, as it came in the hadith of al-'Arba' ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him): In some narrations that I used to read long ago, very long ago, at the beginning of my scholarly life, they said: O Messenger of Allah, give us an advice that we will not need anyone after you, ever. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): And this is the proof . And in the other hadith: .
His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is an address directed to the Companions . So what do you think the people of the generations after him, like our generation, will be like? The disagreement will be greater, greater, wider, and more dangerous.
And the previous issue: if you asked some of those who think— I do not say: if you asked some of the people of knowledge. But I truly say, if you asked some of those who think they are among the most knowledgeable: if we enter, O professor, O honorableThe Shaykh : the gathering—and upon you be the peace and mercy of Allah and His blessings—a gathering in which there are fifteen people, which is us, and we know that, as our friend who just entered did, that it is a recommended practice (sunnah) to shake hands. If I said to him: We know this, but is it a recommended practice (sunnah) that we offer the greeting to everyone we shake hands with in the gathering: "Peace be upon you, peace be upon you, peace be upon you, peace be upon you" according to the number of attendees? His answer would be: "Look at it," this is a traditional answer, "Look at it." As for our answer in this matter, it is contrary to the Sunnah. If what matters to you is what is contrary to the Sunnah, continue with your saying "what is in it" until you are resurrected.
But if you know that the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and you know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he entered a gathering and there was a group, did not offer "peace be upon you, peace be upon you" to each one of them individually, but rather he offered the greeting to everyone: "Peace be upon you."
And if it was possible for him to shake hands, he completed the greeting, as some of the noble Companions said: So if you believe that the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, then it is upon us to adhere to the Sunnah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). We ask Allah and we beg Allah to keep us alive upon it and to cause us to die upon it, so that we may be gathered with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on the Day of Resurrection.

The questioner : Before you move on from this topic, the apparent meaning of the hadiths is that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would enter a place or a gathering

The Shaykh: First, what?

The questioner: That he did not shake hands with everyone. The proof is that the first gathering he would sit in?

The Shaykh: I was hoping that we would pay attention to the precision in my words, and it is possible now to hear the words, we heard to see the end of the words...
Perhaps a sin begets humiliation, and perhaps an act of obedience begets arrogance. That is, some realities sometimes turn into their opposite. If the effect of a sin is repentance and returning to Allah and humility before Him, then this is the blessing of the sin. In terms of what? The outcome. And on the exact opposite, perhaps an act of obedience begets its owner arrogance and conceit. And this, as they claim, regarding their claim that Iblis the accursed was among the angels, and this claim is contrary to the Noble Qur'an. Because it explicitly states in its saying: . And we say this as a digression; otherwise, whether he was among the close angels or among the believing jinn, he was indeed a believer... His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He) after His saying: Because *fisq* (open sinfulness) is exiting from obedience. And that is derived from the Arabs' saying "the snake *fasaqat*," meaning it came out of its sheath in which it wrapped itself when it coiled in its hole in the days of winter. When the time for coming out arrives, it *yafsiq*, meaning it comes out of this sheath.
The point is, what caused Iblis to come out from those obedient, believing jinn was his *fisq* (open sinfulness) against the command of his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He)...