What is your opinion on sale by murabahah to one who does not wish to buy?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : We have two questions, may Allah reward you, O Shaykh. The first question: What is your opinion on the system of sale by murabahah?
The Shaykh : Sale by murabahah!
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : That I buy a commodity for a thousand.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Then another person comes to me and says, sell it to me for a profit, whether deferred or not. I tell him: There is no obstacle. Give me a profit of one hundred on the thousand and I will sell it to you. This is permissible.
The questioner : It is permissible?
The Shaykh : And there is no problem with it. This question says: I have a commodity I bought for a thousand, and a person comes and says, sell it to me for a ten percent profit or something like that.
The questioner : Let me clarify to you, O Shaykh, how the system works with us. For example, you want to buy a house for a price of, say, one hundred thousand dinars.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And you want to complete this amount from the bank. It says: Yes, I will complete the remaining amount for you, for example, twenty thousand. And it says: I will sell you the house and take one hundred and ten thousand, meaning its profit is fifty percent. That is it.
The Shaykh : This is wrong. That is, a person bought a house for eighty.
The questioner : Yes, meaning he buys it from the owner and then sells it a second time.
The Shaykh : This is forbidden by apparent consensus. No one holds this view. Now, understand this scenario: I bought this item, for example, for one hundred, and I do not have money. I went to the merchant and he said: I will buy it from you for one hundred and sell it to you for one hundred and twenty. This is forbidden, there is no doubt about it. If this is your question, it is forbidden and there is no doubt about it.
The questioner : It is not... So I go to the bank and say: Buy this house for me, which is worth one hundred thousand. They say: We will buy it for you.
The Shaykh : For one hundred thousand.
The questioner : From its owner, and then we will sell it to you for one hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty.
The Shaykh : Do you understand the scenario now?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, now, if this person had not come and said, buy me the house, would the bank buy it or not?
It would not buy it. So this purchase from the bank is a stratagem, a stratagem against riba. Instead of the bank saying: Take this one hundred thousand for one hundred and twenty and buy the house yourself, instead of that it says: I will buy it and sell it to you. Does the bank have any interest in buying this house except for the riba increase?
Answer, everyone?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : We must have some sense, right? It is known that the bank has no interest in the house unless you came to it and asked it to buy what it did not buy. So it is not a merchant, but one who is scheming against one who knows what the eyes conceal and what the breasts hide.
Instead of the bank saying: Take one hundred thousand, buy the house with it, and give me its equivalent of one hundred and twenty at the end of the year, it said: I will buy the house and sell it to you. May Allah help us! Which is closer to a stratagem against riba, this or what the Jews did?
When the fats were forbidden to them, they said: We will not eat the fats. Melt them until they become tallow, then sell the tallow and eat its price. That is further away, meaning the Jews' stratagem is further from the forbidden than the stratagem I mentioned to you. I have no doubt that it is forbidden, and I advise my brothers to avoid it. I say: Perhaps the hardness of hearts and distance from the Knower of the Unseen is due to these forbidden foods from which hardly anyone breaks away because he sees them as lawful, and perhaps some people have issued a fatwa to that effect. We are a straightforward nation, an Islamic nation. We enter houses from their doors, and we approach things like the sun. Everyone knows that instead of saying to the bank: Take the hundred, buy the house with it, and it is due from you as one hundred and twenty for a year, everyone knows that this is forbidden and no one says it is lawful.
Or it says: Where is the hundred you want? So the bank goes and buys it for a hundred and sells it to this person for one hundred and twenty. There is no difference, O brothers.
But if the house or the car was originally with the bank and it sold it to you for a profit, buying it for a hundred and saying it is one hundred and twenty for you, there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with it except if the intention is the money, which is the issue of tawarruq, and there is disagreement on it.
The questioner : It is not obligatory.
The Shaykh : The issue of non-obligation is like oiling sand.
The questioner : It does not obligate him.
The Shaykh : First of all, may Allah bless you. Is it conceivable that this man who chose this house or car would reconsider, knowing its price and wanting it?
I mean, if one out of a thousand might, it is very rare. It is not possible that he would come and choose it and then reconsider.
Second: If he reconsiders, it is written in black on his page. He is not trusted after that. Okay, so if he does not reconsider, hehe.
The questioner : If he says: I am not committed until after you buy it?
The Shaykh : By Allah, O my brother, look, I say, O brothers, we are an Islamic nation and our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: By Allah, then by Allah, then by Allah, if there were any lawfulness in it, I would issue a fatwa for it. But how can I face the Lord of the Worlds who knows what the eyes conceal and what the breasts hide!!
Let the bank buy whatever it wants of lands or houses or cars, and display them for sale. I come and say: I want it for cash. It says: For a hundred. The second one comes and says: I want it in installments. It says: For one hundred and twenty. No one denies that this is permissible, if Allah wills. But this is a game, O brothers. Think about it for yourselves from now until the soul reaches the throat, and let me know what the result is?
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And now the adhan is being called, and the one recording is gesturing with his hands saying: The adhan, the adhan.
Glory be to you, our Lord, and praise. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
May Allah bless you and be glad of the good. Whoever takes a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise.
The questioner : We love you for the sake of Allah.
The Shaykh : May Allah love you.
The Shaykh : Sale by murabahah!
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : That I buy a commodity for a thousand.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Then another person comes to me and says, sell it to me for a profit, whether deferred or not. I tell him: There is no obstacle. Give me a profit of one hundred on the thousand and I will sell it to you. This is permissible.
The questioner : It is permissible?
The Shaykh : And there is no problem with it. This question says: I have a commodity I bought for a thousand, and a person comes and says, sell it to me for a ten percent profit or something like that.
The questioner : Let me clarify to you, O Shaykh, how the system works with us. For example, you want to buy a house for a price of, say, one hundred thousand dinars.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : And you want to complete this amount from the bank. It says: Yes, I will complete the remaining amount for you, for example, twenty thousand. And it says: I will sell you the house and take one hundred and ten thousand, meaning its profit is fifty percent. That is it.
The Shaykh : This is wrong. That is, a person bought a house for eighty.
The questioner : Yes, meaning he buys it from the owner and then sells it a second time.
The Shaykh : This is forbidden by apparent consensus. No one holds this view. Now, understand this scenario: I bought this item, for example, for one hundred, and I do not have money. I went to the merchant and he said: I will buy it from you for one hundred and sell it to you for one hundred and twenty. This is forbidden, there is no doubt about it. If this is your question, it is forbidden and there is no doubt about it.
The questioner : It is not... So I go to the bank and say: Buy this house for me, which is worth one hundred thousand. They say: We will buy it for you.
The Shaykh : For one hundred thousand.
The questioner : From its owner, and then we will sell it to you for one hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty.
The Shaykh : Do you understand the scenario now?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, now, if this person had not come and said, buy me the house, would the bank buy it or not?
It would not buy it. So this purchase from the bank is a stratagem, a stratagem against riba. Instead of the bank saying: Take this one hundred thousand for one hundred and twenty and buy the house yourself, instead of that it says: I will buy it and sell it to you. Does the bank have any interest in buying this house except for the riba increase?
Answer, everyone?
The questioner : No.
The Shaykh : We must have some sense, right? It is known that the bank has no interest in the house unless you came to it and asked it to buy what it did not buy. So it is not a merchant, but one who is scheming against one who knows what the eyes conceal and what the breasts hide.
Instead of the bank saying: Take one hundred thousand, buy the house with it, and give me its equivalent of one hundred and twenty at the end of the year, it said: I will buy the house and sell it to you. May Allah help us! Which is closer to a stratagem against riba, this or what the Jews did?
When the fats were forbidden to them, they said: We will not eat the fats. Melt them until they become tallow, then sell the tallow and eat its price. That is further away, meaning the Jews' stratagem is further from the forbidden than the stratagem I mentioned to you. I have no doubt that it is forbidden, and I advise my brothers to avoid it. I say: Perhaps the hardness of hearts and distance from the Knower of the Unseen is due to these forbidden foods from which hardly anyone breaks away because he sees them as lawful, and perhaps some people have issued a fatwa to that effect. We are a straightforward nation, an Islamic nation. We enter houses from their doors, and we approach things like the sun. Everyone knows that instead of saying to the bank: Take the hundred, buy the house with it, and it is due from you as one hundred and twenty for a year, everyone knows that this is forbidden and no one says it is lawful.
Or it says: Where is the hundred you want? So the bank goes and buys it for a hundred and sells it to this person for one hundred and twenty. There is no difference, O brothers.
But if the house or the car was originally with the bank and it sold it to you for a profit, buying it for a hundred and saying it is one hundred and twenty for you, there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with it except if the intention is the money, which is the issue of tawarruq, and there is disagreement on it.
The questioner : It is not obligatory.
The Shaykh : The issue of non-obligation is like oiling sand.
The questioner : It does not obligate him.
The Shaykh : First of all, may Allah bless you. Is it conceivable that this man who chose this house or car would reconsider, knowing its price and wanting it?
I mean, if one out of a thousand might, it is very rare. It is not possible that he would come and choose it and then reconsider.
Second: If he reconsiders, it is written in black on his page. He is not trusted after that. Okay, so if he does not reconsider, hehe.
The questioner : If he says: I am not committed until after you buy it?
The Shaykh : By Allah, O my brother, look, I say, O brothers, we are an Islamic nation and our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Do 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 الحيلLet the bank buy whatever it wants of lands or houses or cars, and display them for sale. I come and say: I want it for cash. It says: For a hundred. The second one comes and says: I want it in installments. It says: For one hundred and twenty. No one denies that this is permissible, if Allah wills. But this is a game, O brothers. Think about it for yourselves from now until the soul reaches the throat, and let me know what the result is?
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And now the adhan is being called, and the one recording is gesturing with his hands saying: The adhan, the adhan.
Glory be to you, our Lord, and praise. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.
May Allah bless you and be glad of the good. Whoever takes a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise.
The questioner : We love you for the sake of Allah.
The Shaykh : May Allah love you.