What is the ruling on deferred sale?
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The student: ... .
The Shaykh : There is no issue with cars now, for example. One person says, "I want to give someone one hundred thousand," and the other says, "By Allah, I will not give you a loan or a credit." So he says, "Fine, give me cars. Go buy them and sell them to me on credit." This is forbidden. If a person wants to buy a car but has no money, and he goes to someone who says, "I will sell you a car," and he says, "Okay, let us go to the showroom together and buy a car for you," and then he says, "I bought it now for twenty thousand, and it is yours for twenty-five thousand over one year," this is forbidden. Is this forbidden or not?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Why? Because this man did not buy it except for him, so it is as if he lent him its value with interest. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, they sell the goods before transferring them to their location, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade selling goods where they are bought until the merchants transfer them to their homes. Thirdly, they transfer the registration from the first seller to the second, and this is lying. And so on, it is lying. Also, consequences follow from this, because if it is transferred from the first to the third, it means that the second, the intermediary, is free from liability, even though if something goes wrong with it, the second buyer would return to the intermediary. This is a circumvention and nullification of the rights prescribed by the Shari'ah. So there are several harms in it. However, if the cars are with the person himself, for example, I have cars and their registrations are with me, and people come to me and say, "We want a car from you for cash for twenty thousand," and I say, "Please, take a car for twenty thousand," and he goes, is this permissible or not? Yes, for cash. Then he says, "Give me a car on credit for twenty-five thousand over one year." If I want the same car, this is permissible by consensus, and there is no problem with it. But if I want the money, meaning I take a car from you and sell it, then if I sell it to you, it is forbidden because it is the issue of 'inah. And if I sell it to someone else, it is the issue of tawarruq, and the scholars have two opinions on it, and they are two narrations from Imam Ahmad. One narration says this is forbidden because it is a stratagem, and Allah the Exalted knows, and you know, and the seller knows that you did not want the car. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 1 And this is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah. Ibn al-Qayyim says: "And our Shaykh would always review this matter, he would review it a lot, and he would refuse to permit it." The second opinion, which is the famous one in the madhhab, is that it is permissible due to the need for it.
The Shaykh : There is no issue with cars now, for example. One person says, "I want to give someone one hundred thousand," and the other says, "By Allah, I will not give you a loan or a credit." So he says, "Fine, give me cars. Go buy them and sell them to me on credit." This is forbidden. If a person wants to buy a car but has no money, and he goes to someone who says, "I will sell you a car," and he says, "Okay, let us go to the showroom together and buy a car for you," and then he says, "I bought it now for twenty thousand, and it is yours for twenty-five thousand over one year," this is forbidden. Is this forbidden or not?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Why? Because this man did not buy it except for him, so it is as if he lent him its value with interest. This is from one aspect. From another aspect, they sell the goods before transferring them to their location, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade selling goods where they are bought until the merchants transfer them to their homes. Thirdly, they transfer the registration from the first seller to the second, and this is lying. And so on, it is lying. Also, consequences follow from this, because if it is transferred from the first to the third, it means that the second, the intermediary, is free from liability, even though if something goes wrong with it, the second buyer would return to the intermediary. This is a circumvention and nullification of the rights prescribed by the Shari'ah. So there are several harms in it. However, if the cars are with the person himself, for example, I have cars and their registrations are with me, and people come to me and say, "We want a car from you for cash for twenty thousand," and I say, "Please, take a car for twenty thousand," and he goes, is this permissible or not? Yes, for cash. Then he says, "Give me a car on credit for twenty-five thousand over one year." If I want the same car, this is permissible by consensus, and there is no problem with it. But if I want the money, meaning I take a car from you and sell it, then if I sell it to you, it is forbidden because it is the issue of 'inah. And if I sell it to someone else, it is the issue of tawarruq, and the scholars have two opinions on it, and they are two narrations from Imam Ahmad. One narration says this is forbidden because it is a stratagem, and Allah the Exalted knows, and you know, and the seller knows that you did not want the car. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: