What is the ruling on buying goods and then selling them on installment with an increase?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Your Eminence, is a promise to buy binding?
The Shaykh : What do you mean by a promise to buy?
The questioner : ... For example, the National Bank has a department called Islamic Banking Services. They offer installments to those who wish, among the conditions...
The Shaykh : And what does installment mean?
The questioner : You request any item from them.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : They ask the applicant to bring a price quote. For example, for a car, he says, "Give us a price quote from the showroom."
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : He brings the price quote, and the bank buys this car.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Then they conclude a contract with him.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : After the rate is determined.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : If the person changes his mind about this purchase, they are now selling the car to the bank. If there is a loss, he bears it on the basis of the promise to buy. Is this permissible, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : And what is your opinion if the bank says to this man, "I will give you fifty thousand to buy a car, on the condition that it is paid in installments of sixty thousand"? What do you say, is it forbidden or lawful?
The questioner : This is riba, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : I am asking you, is it lawful or forbidden? Before you say it is riba or not riba.
The questioner : Forbidden.
The Shaykh : Forbidden. Good. Is it not exactly the same as saying, "Go and specify the car you want, and I will buy it for fifty thousand and sell it to you for sixty thousand in installments"? Is it the same?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is dirhams for dirhams, with a car entering between them. Ibn Abbas says, "Dirhams for dirhams, with a silk garment entering between them." And we say, "Dirhams for dirhams, with a car entering between them." That is, instead of the riba coming openly like the sun, it is brought in by a trick. And the trick, O brothers, regarding forbidden things is more evil than committing forbidden things openly, because it combines the harm of the forbidden with deceiving the Lord of the Worlds (Mighty and Majestic). For this reason, the hearts of the Jews who tricked regarding the Sabbath were turned into what? Monkeys and pigs[Al-Baqarah 2:65].
The questioner : I mean, O Shaykh, if it is not binding...
The Shaykh : I say this is forbidden. And their claim that the bank is not bound if you bought it, this is empty talk. Does one who came to the bank and said, "I want such-and-such car," imagine that he would return while still needing it?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : He does not imagine it. And if, by chance, one in a million returns, the bank puts him on the blacklist, entering him into the blacklist as someone who is not trusted in his buying and selling. But, by Allah, a person regrets greatly that the Muslim community has started to dare to commit riba through tricks and deception. It is feared that pains will appear in it that were not in previous nations, and it is feared that Allah will strike the hearts of some of them with others. Yes.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Some of them issue fatwas.
The Shaykh : That does not contradict [the ruling].
The questioner : And they have a Sharia board.
The Shaykh : Who does not contradict the fatwas and is not referred back to?
The questioner : The Book and the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : The Book and the Sunnah. Everyone knows that this trick is closer than the trick of the Jews. When Allah forbade the Jews the fats, what did they do? They said, "We will melt the fat so it becomes oil, then we will sell the oil and eat its price." Look, this trick is further... two paths. And yet the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: But this painful reality is the verification of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): , and it is committing what the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) forbade, where he said: . Yes... Good, give it to Musa.
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O His Eminence the Shaykh. What is your opinion of the Tabligh group?
The Shaykh : What? There are only ten minutes left. Wait.
The questioner : Good, O Shaykh, why does the Council of Senior Scholars not... on this issue, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Ask its president.
The Shaykh : What do you mean by a promise to buy?
The questioner : ... For example, the National Bank has a department called Islamic Banking Services. They offer installments to those who wish, among the conditions...
The Shaykh : And what does installment mean?
The questioner : You request any item from them.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : They ask the applicant to bring a price quote. For example, for a car, he says, "Give us a price quote from the showroom."
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : He brings the price quote, and the bank buys this car.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Then they conclude a contract with him.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : After the rate is determined.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : If the person changes his mind about this purchase, they are now selling the car to the bank. If there is a loss, he bears it on the basis of the promise to buy. Is this permissible, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : And what is your opinion if the bank says to this man, "I will give you fifty thousand to buy a car, on the condition that it is paid in installments of sixty thousand"? What do you say, is it forbidden or lawful?
The questioner : This is riba, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : I am asking you, is it lawful or forbidden? Before you say it is riba or not riba.
The questioner : Forbidden.
The Shaykh : Forbidden. Good. Is it not exactly the same as saying, "Go and specify the car you want, and I will buy it for fifty thousand and sell it to you for sixty thousand in installments"? Is it the same?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is dirhams for dirhams, with a car entering between them. Ibn Abbas says, "Dirhams for dirhams, with a silk garment entering between them." And we say, "Dirhams for dirhams, with a car entering between them." That is, instead of the riba coming openly like the sun, it is brought in by a trick. And the trick, O brothers, regarding forbidden things is more evil than committing forbidden things openly, because it combines the harm of the forbidden with deceiving the Lord of the Worlds (Mighty and Majestic). For this reason, the hearts of the Jews who tricked regarding the Sabbath were turned into what? Monkeys and pigs
and We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
فقلنا لهم كونوا قردة خاسئينThe questioner : I mean, O Shaykh, if it is not binding...
The Shaykh : I say this is forbidden. And their claim that the bank is not bound if you bought it, this is empty talk. Does one who came to the bank and said, "I want such-and-such car," imagine that he would return while still needing it?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : He does not imagine it. And if, by chance, one in a million returns, the bank puts him on the blacklist, entering him into the blacklist as someone who is not trusted in his buying and selling. But, by Allah, a person regrets greatly that the Muslim community has started to dare to commit riba through tricks and deception. It is feared that pains will appear in it that were not in previous nations, and it is feared that Allah will strike the hearts of some of them with others. Yes.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : Some of them issue fatwas.
The Shaykh : That does not contradict [the ruling].
The questioner : And they have a Sharia board.
The Shaykh : Who does not contradict the fatwas and is not referred back to?
The questioner : The Book and the Sunnah.
The Shaykh : The Book and the Sunnah. Everyone knows that this trick is closer than the trick of the Jews. When Allah forbade the Jews the fats, what did they do? They said, "We will melt the fat so it becomes oil, then we will sell the oil and eat its price." Look, this trick is further... two paths. And yet the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
May Allah curse the Jews. When Allah forbade them the fats, they melted them, then sold them, and ate their price.
قاتل الله اليهود إن الله لمّا حرّم عليهم الشّحوم أذابوه ثمّ باعوه وأكلوا ثمنهYou will surely follow the ways of those who were before you. They said, "The Jews and the Christians?" He said, "Then what...
لتركبنّ سنن من كان قبلكم، قالوا: اليهود والنّصارى، قال: فمنDo not commit what the Jews committed, so that you make lawful the forbidden things of Allah by the slightest of tricks.
لا ترتكبوا ما ارتكبت اليهود فتستحلّوا محارم الله بأدنى الحيلThe questioner : May Allah reward you, O His Eminence the Shaykh. What is your opinion of the Tabligh group?
The Shaykh : What? There are only ten minutes left. Wait.
The questioner : Good, O Shaykh, why does the Council of Senior Scholars not... on this issue, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Ask its president.