Increasing the current price due to a deferred payment is not usury

Question:
I have a customer who buys from me on credit for a deferred period. If I increase the price beyond the cash price, is this usury or not?

Answer:
This is not usury; because a deferred sale is not a cash sale, and the scholars have agreed—so far as we know—that it is permissible to sell a commodity for a known deferred period at a price higher than its current price, provided the buyer is purchasing it for his need of the item itself, not to sell it for cash to the seller or to someone else. There are many examples of this, such as:
buying a car or a mount to use it, or food to eat it, or clothes to wear them, or the like. Among the evidence for this is the saying of the Exalted: [Surat al-Baqarah: 282], the verse, and He did not stipulate a known price.
Among the evidence for this is the forward sale (salam). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered Medina and the people were making forward sales in fruits for one, two, or three years. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and he did not say: at the current price. It is known that the one making the forward sale hands over his money to the farmers in hope of profit in the future; so the one making the forward sale benefits in the future, and the one to whom it is made benefits with the cash immediately. If it were stipulated in the forward sale that it must be at the current price, most people would not undertake it, and the benefit of everyone would be obstructed. Among this is the hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar: .
And because usury was legislated by the Shari'ah in specific circumstances and specific transactions, it is not permissible to attach other things to it except by a specific text. It is not a usury transaction, nor a usury circumstance, that we sell a commodity—such as cars, mounts, clothes, vessels, or food—for a known cash amount for a deferred period at a price higher than the current price, so far as we know from the pure Shari'ah, and not in what the scholars have established.
The matter became confused for some of the later people, so they thought that this transaction is usury of deferment (riba al-nasi'ah), but that is not the case. Usury of deferment is: selling a ribawi item for a ribawi item for a deferred period, or without taking possession, even if there is no profit, such as selling currency for currency without taking possession, or selling food for food without taking possession, and the like of the circumstances of usury. As for selling a commodity for a deferred period and then buying it back for less in cash, this is (the issue of 'inah), and the correct view held by the majority is that it is forbidden; this is like: selling a commodity for one hundred for a known deferred period, then buying it back from the buyer for eighty in cash; because this is in reality selling eighty cash for one hundred for a deferred period, and the commodity is a ruse between them, and this is the very essence of usury.
As for when the buyer only bought the commodity from you to sell it to someone else for cash because of his need for it, this is called (the issue of tawarruq). The righteous caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) and a group of scholars went to the view that it is forbidden, among them Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). Others—and they are the majority, so far as I know—went to the view that it is permissible; because it falls under the credit transactions that Allah has permitted; and because it is not a means to usury; because the buyer does not sell the commodity to the one from whom he bought it, but rather to someone else, and there is no collusion among the three regarding this transaction.
As for when there is collusion, it is forbidden like (the issue of 'inah). And because the poor person may be driven by need to this transaction, or may even be compelled to it by his poverty and the lack of someone to lend to him or give him charity. This view is stronger—may Allah will it—when there is a need for it. As for when there is no need for it, it is better to leave it off to avoid the disagreement of the scholars, to be cautious with the religion, and to keep the conscience free from what may be difficult to clear.
These are important issues that I wished to elaborate on for you because of the pressing need for it, and the abundance of people discussing it with and without knowledge.
And I ask Allah for me, for you, and for all Muslims success in what pleases Him, and understanding in His religion; He is the best of those asked.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
And may Allah send prayers and peace upon His servant and messenger Muhammad, and his family and his companions.