The Shaykh’s continuation of his remarks on installment sales.

The Shaykh : What do you think of this jurisprudence? This is exactly like that, but this one penetrates the heart quickly. This one requires a bit of thought for a person to engage with, and in the end, he will believe completely that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade two sales in one sale and said the one with the lower price . So when he told him the installment price is one hundred and ten, or one thousand and two hundred, he took the increase in exchange for what? The increase, is it not in exchange for patience in fulfilling the payment? Good. Now, let us return to the companies today that I mentioned, and you excepted some companies. I advise you to stick to this exception. If the owner of the hundred bags comes to you for an installment sale, that will be a reward for you, as if you had given fifty bags in charity. As for the private companies today that sell appliances and cars, do you know, you know, they have two prices, right? Well, if there were not two prices, the Islamic bank would not be able to operate, right? If the Islamic bank, what does it do? The merchant sells the car, for example, for ten thousand dinars cash and eleven thousand on installments. What does the bank say to the intermediary or its client? It says, "Go, look for any car that pleases you, and bring me its price, cash or installment?" Installment...

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : We have not yet reached the buyer. The buyer goes and brings the installment price. We say, in the previous hypothetical scenario, it is eleven thousand. It tells the customer, "We will get back to you in a day or two." Who does the bank call? The company, the car dealer. It asks, "What is the cash price of such-and-such car?" They say, "Ten thousand, for example." And perhaps, considering it is a merchant-to-merchant deal, they deduct a little. Let us assume it does not go below ten thousand. They say, "Let this car be in our name, and we will send someone to deliver it to you." The Islamic bank paid ten thousand and registered the customer for eleven thousand. This is not riba. It is a cycle and a turn. The sale is a means to reach what? Making lawful what Allah has forbidden of riba. And this is what the Jews did. What did the Jews do? The story of their fishing on the Sabbath by means of deception. They blocked the inlets. They did not work on the Sabbath. Allah forbade them fishing on the Sabbath. They did not fish, but they compensated for what they missed on the Sabbath with this trick. They found the inlets overflowing with fish by the load. And a group of religious people... exactly. They did not violate Allah’s command that it is forbidden for you to fish on the Sabbath. Indeed, they did not fish. But they trapped the fish in the inlets. Were they doing that before? No, they were not. Why? If they had done this, they would have had to deceive. How does the known greedy Jew, who is cited as an example, see the fish playing and know that on the Sabbath he cannot cast these nets and the like? If he deceives, this is a story mentioned in the Qur'an. But take other images. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, What is the meaning of the hadith? The fats were forbidden to them. It refers to a verse in the Noble Qur'an. Allah the Exalted said, From these good things, slaughter the sheep, cows, and camels. Everything that Allah the Mighty and Majestic made lawful: the red meat and the fat. Throw it on the ground. Why? The fats and the intestines were forbidden to them. Did they accept this ruling? They did not accept it. What did they do? They deceived. They took these fats and put them in large pots, lit a fire underneath them, the fat melted and flowed, and took a shape other than its natural shape. They thought, "This way, we will not violate the prohibition." The prohibition of what? The fat. The fat remains in its nature exactly, but what changed was its shape. And therefore, I say to some people who deceive by changing the shape in order to eat: this is the work of the Jews. Do you see? So if we are turning and twisting today in our transactions that are forbidden by the Shari'ah, and some of them are ribawi (interest-based) haram, and we deceive regarding them, just as the Jews did, then I advise every Muslim, whether he is a merchant or a grocer, meaning small or large, and so on: do not sell at two prices, but at one price. And the second piece of advice: do not sell at the installment price, but at the cash price. Because it reached us from some large merchants in Kuwait, and you know the wealth of the Kuwaitis and the merchants among them, that this hadith reached them from my side or from someone else, God knows. So he began to sell at one price. But the car that he used to sell for ten thousand cash and eleven thousand on installments, he began to sell for eleven thousand cash. So he used to wrong half the customers, but now he wrongs all the customers. So perhaps I have answered your question now.

The questioner : ... It takes the same ruling.

The Shaykh : Or else, it is a greater turning and twisting.