What is the ruling on one who buys a car for another but increases the price because the first party is unable to pay in cash?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A man’s son insisted that he buy a car, so he went to one of the companies and they asked him for the price in cash, but he did not have it. So he returned and brought another person to buy it for him. He bought it and took it out of the showroom, then sold it to this man for a higher price. What is the ruling?
The Shaykh : Is the situation clear to you now?
A person needed a car and did not have cash, so another man came and said: I will buy it in cash from the company and sell it to you in installments at a price higher than what I paid for it!
And the answer is: This is forbidden, and it is a stratagem to circumvent riba, because this person who bought it and then sold it to you is, in reality, lending you the price with interest. Instead of saying: Take the price and buy it, he says: This is, for example, fifty thousand, and you owe sixty thousand over one year. He says: I will buy it and sell it to you. And if it were not for you, he would not have bought it, and if it were not for the riba he earns from you, he would not have bought it. So it is, in reality, riba, but it is riba that involves deception, deceiving the Lord of the Worlds (Mighty and Majestic). And when He forbade this to us, we twist and turn and merely change the appearance. Changing the appearance does not turn a forbidden thing into a lawful one.
So here are the people of the Sabbath, whom Allah forbade from hunting in the sea on the day of Sabbath. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) tested them, and the fish on the day of Sabbath would come to the surface of the water in great numbers, while on days other than the Sabbath they would not come. So the time passed, and on the day of Sabbath hunting was forbidden to us and the fish would come lawfully, while on days other than the Sabbath they would not come to us. So they devised a stratagem: they would place a net on Friday, and the fish would come on the day of Sabbath and fall into this net and be unable to get out. Then when Sunday came, they would come and take them from the net. The appearance of the matter, or the appearance of the reality, is that they caught them on Sunday, that they did not catch them on the day of Sabbath. It was the fish that came and fell into the net; they did not bring them or hold them. So did this stratagem benefit them?
No, Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:65] So We made them transgressors on the Sabbath, [Al-Baqarah 2:65].
Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded them by a cosmic decree to become monkeys, so they became monkeys, chattering, while the day before they were men. This is because they stratagemed against the prohibitions of Allah. For this reason, our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us:, and he said (peace and blessings be upon him), in what Ahmad narrated in the Musnad with a chain that some of the Imams authenticated: . So this transaction that you mentioned is undoubtedly a transaction involving a clear stratagem to circumvent riba. So it is forbidden for the one who performs it, the one who gives the riba, and the one who takes this riba, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 2277Hasan (Darussalam).
The questioner : And the solution?
The Shaykh : The solution is that each of them repents to Allah. As for the one who bought the car and then sold it to him with an increase, part of the completion of his repentance is that he does not take the increase from him. And as long as the second one, who took the car, was ignorant, then he owes nothing except to pay the original price to this man. But if both of them were aware that it is forbidden, then the seller who took the increase is not permitted to take it, but it is to be placed in the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal). It is not to be waived for the buyer, because the buyer is one who violates the prohibition, and there is a difference between one who violates the prohibition and one who is ignorant. If both of them were ignorant, then the way now is for the one who sold it with profit, or with riba in reality, to say: My capital is sufficient for me, and I do not want anything else.
And with this, this session and this meeting ends. I ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to make it a beneficial meeting, and until a future meeting. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
A man’s son insisted that he buy a car, so he went to one of the companies and they asked him for the price in cash, but he did not have it. So he returned and brought another person to buy it for him. He bought it and took it out of the showroom, then sold it to this man for a higher price. What is the ruling?
The Shaykh : Is the situation clear to you now?
A person needed a car and did not have cash, so another man came and said: I will buy it in cash from the company and sell it to you in installments at a price higher than what I paid for it!
And the answer is: This is forbidden, and it is a stratagem to circumvent riba, because this person who bought it and then sold it to you is, in reality, lending you the price with interest. Instead of saying: Take the price and buy it, he says: This is, for example, fifty thousand, and you owe sixty thousand over one year. He says: I will buy it and sell it to you. And if it were not for you, he would not have bought it, and if it were not for the riba he earns from you, he would not have bought it. So it is, in reality, riba, but it is riba that involves deception, deceiving the Lord of the Worlds (Mighty and Majestic). And when He forbade this to us, we twist and turn and merely change the appearance. Changing the appearance does not turn a forbidden thing into a lawful one.
So here are the people of the Sabbath, whom Allah forbade from hunting in the sea on the day of Sabbath. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) tested them, and the fish on the day of Sabbath would come to the surface of the water in great numbers, while on days other than the Sabbath they would not come. So the time passed, and on the day of Sabbath hunting was forbidden to us and the fish would come lawfully, while on days other than the Sabbath they would not come to us. So they devised a stratagem: they would place a net on Friday, and the fish would come on the day of Sabbath and fall into this net and be unable to get out. Then when Sunday came, they would come and take them from the net. The appearance of the matter, or the appearance of the reality, is that they caught them on Sunday, that they did not catch them on the day of Sabbath. It was the fish that came and fell into the net; they did not bring them or hold them. So did this stratagem benefit them?
No, Allah the Exalted said:
And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath
وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ الَّذِينَ اعْتَدَوْا مِنْكُمْ فِي السَّبْتِand We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَAllah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded them by a cosmic decree to become monkeys, so they became monkeys, chattering, while the day before they were men. This is because they stratagemed against the prohibitions of Allah. For this reason, our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us:
May Allah curse the Jews. When Allah forbade them the fat of carrion, they melted the fat until it became grease, then they sold it and ate its price.
قاتل الله اليهود، لما حرم الله عليهم شحوم الميتة أذابوا الشَّحم حتى صار وَدَكًا ثم باعوه وأكلوا ثمنهDo not commit what the Jews committed, so that you make lawful the prohibitions of Allah by the slightest of stratagems.
لا ترتكبوا ما ارتكبت اليهود فتستحلوا محارم الله بأدنى الحِيلthe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the one who consumes usury, the one who pays it, those who witness it and the one who writes it down.
لعن آكل الربا، وموكله، وشاهديه، وكاتبهThe questioner : And the solution?
The Shaykh : The solution is that each of them repents to Allah. As for the one who bought the car and then sold it to him with an increase, part of the completion of his repentance is that he does not take the increase from him. And as long as the second one, who took the car, was ignorant, then he owes nothing except to pay the original price to this man. But if both of them were aware that it is forbidden, then the seller who took the increase is not permitted to take it, but it is to be placed in the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal). It is not to be waived for the buyer, because the buyer is one who violates the prohibition, and there is a difference between one who violates the prohibition and one who is ignorant. If both of them were ignorant, then the way now is for the one who sold it with profit, or with riba in reality, to say: My capital is sufficient for me, and I do not want anything else.
And with this, this session and this meeting ends. I ask Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to make it a beneficial meeting, and until a future meeting. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.