Explanation of the author's statement: "For perpetuity, excluding riba and loans"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : All right, he says "for perpetuity". Pay attention, for we are now discussing the conditions of the definition. This exchange must be for perpetuity, to distinguish it from a lease. A lease certainly involves an exchange. If I rent this house from you for one hundred riyals, what have I rented a specific item for?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : O brothers, I rented this house from you for one hundred riyals, a specific item for what is in the debt, right? Or not? Does it not contradict the benefit? Is it not permissible to conclude a sale contract for a benefit? All right, why do we not say that this is a sale?
The questioner : It is not ... .
The Shaykh : Because it is not for perpetuity. Therefore, a sale must be for perpetuity. For this reason, if someone said, "I sold you this house for one year for one thousand riyals," this contract would not be valid as a sale. Why? Because it is not for perpetuity. Is it valid as a lease? This depends on a well-known principle among jurists: if a contract is described in a way that contradicts what was agreed upon, is it treated according to the valid aspect, or is the whole thing void? There is scholarly disagreement on this. All right.
"Excluding riba and loans". Riba is not called a sale, even if an exchange is found in it. If I gave you one dirham for two dirhams and said, "This dirham is for these two dirhams," what is it? It is an exchange of a specific item for a specific item, but it is not a sale. What excluded it? It was excluded because Allah made it a counterpart to sale. A counterpart of a thing is not the thing itself; a counterpart is not the thing itself.[Al-Baqarah 2:275] Therefore, riba is not a sale, otherwise the classification would not be valid. All right.
And a loan, meaning excluding a loan. It is not called a sale, even if an exchange is found in it. A wealthy person comes to one who asked for a loan and says, "Take these dirhams; I am lending them to you." Are the dirhams specific or not specific?
The questioner : Specific.
The Shaykh : And a loan, meaning the measure of the loan?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, it is in the debt. So it resembles an exchange of a specific item for what is in the debt, but it is not called a sale. Because if it were a sale, lending in ribawi items would be invalid. If a loan were a sale, lending in ribawi items would be invalid. Is this clear or not clear?
The questioner : Clear.
Another questioner: Not clear.
The Shaykh : O Allah, inspire us. All right, if I sold you a dirham for a dirham, and I do not take it from you until two days later, is it riba or not riba?
The questioner : Riba.
The Shaykh : All right, I lent you a dirham as a loan for you to give it to me after two days. Is this permissible?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes. Therefore, if we said that a loan is a sale, lending in ribawi items would not be valid, because it leads to delaying the possession by lending an item of the same type. It is well known that delaying the possession in the sale of an item for one of the same type is forbidden riba. All right.
If someone asked, "What excluded a loan from being a sale, when it is an exchange of wealth for wealth?" We said, what excluded it is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his familySahih al-Bukhari 1. This is what excluded it. So what did the lender intend when he lent to the borrower? Did he intend exchange and trade, or did he intend to be kind?
The questioner : The second one.
The Shaykh : Yes, the second one, without a doubt. He intended to be kind. And because he intended to do good, it became the opposite of the intention of the one who deals in riba. Because the essence of riba is injustice, as Allah the Exalted said[Al-Baqarah 2:279]. So the loan is the opposite of the intended purpose of what? Riba. Since its intended purpose is to be kind, it is excluded from being a sale.
Therefore, what is the evidence for the exclusion of a loan from being a sale? It is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his familySahih al-Bukhari 1. This is because neither the lender nor the borrower intended exchange. The lender intended to be kind, and the borrower intended to satisfy his need. For this reason, a loan is not a sale. And I told you that if we made a loan a sale, what would happen? Lending in all ribawi items would be invalid. Yes, of their same type. Is this clear? Yes?
The questioner : ... riba and ... .
The Shaykh : No ... the contract was concluded on it.
The questioner : ... .
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : O brothers, I rented this house from you for one hundred riyals, a specific item for what is in the debt, right? Or not? Does it not contradict the benefit? Is it not permissible to conclude a sale contract for a benefit? All right, why do we not say that this is a sale?
The questioner : It is not ... .
The Shaykh : Because it is not for perpetuity. Therefore, a sale must be for perpetuity. For this reason, if someone said, "I sold you this house for one year for one thousand riyals," this contract would not be valid as a sale. Why? Because it is not for perpetuity. Is it valid as a lease? This depends on a well-known principle among jurists: if a contract is described in a way that contradicts what was agreed upon, is it treated according to the valid aspect, or is the whole thing void? There is scholarly disagreement on this. All right.
"Excluding riba and loans". Riba is not called a sale, even if an exchange is found in it. If I gave you one dirham for two dirhams and said, "This dirham is for these two dirhams," what is it? It is an exchange of a specific item for a specific item, but it is not a sale. What excluded it? It was excluded because Allah made it a counterpart to sale. A counterpart of a thing is not the thing itself; a counterpart is not the thing itself.
But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest
أحل الله البيع وحرم الرباAnd a loan, meaning excluding a loan. It is not called a sale, even if an exchange is found in it. A wealthy person comes to one who asked for a loan and says, "Take these dirhams; I am lending them to you." Are the dirhams specific or not specific?
The questioner : Specific.
The Shaykh : And a loan, meaning the measure of the loan?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, it is in the debt. So it resembles an exchange of a specific item for what is in the debt, but it is not called a sale. Because if it were a sale, lending in ribawi items would be invalid. If a loan were a sale, lending in ribawi items would be invalid. Is this clear or not clear?
The questioner : Clear.
Another questioner: Not clear.
The Shaykh : O Allah, inspire us. All right, if I sold you a dirham for a dirham, and I do not take it from you until two days later, is it riba or not riba?
The questioner : Riba.
The Shaykh : All right, I lent you a dirham as a loan for you to give it to me after two days. Is this permissible?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes. Therefore, if we said that a loan is a sale, lending in ribawi items would not be valid, because it leads to delaying the possession by lending an item of the same type. It is well known that delaying the possession in the sale of an item for one of the same type is forbidden riba. All right.
If someone asked, "What excluded a loan from being a sale, when it is an exchange of wealth for wealth?" We said, what excluded it is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his family
The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.
إنما الأعمال بالنيات وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوىThe questioner : The second one.
The Shaykh : Yes, the second one, without a doubt. He intended to be kind. And because he intended to do good, it became the opposite of the intention of the one who deals in riba. Because the essence of riba is injustice, as Allah the Exalted said
you may have your principal - [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged.
لكم رؤوس أموالكم لا تظلمون ولا تُظلمونTherefore, what is the evidence for the exclusion of a loan from being a sale? It is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his family
The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.
إنما الأعمال بالنيات وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوىThe questioner : ... riba and ... .
The Shaykh : No ... the contract was concluded on it.
The questioner : ... .