Is there scholarly disagreement regarding installment sales?

Question:
Your Eminence, as you know, there is disagreement among scholars regarding the ruling on installment sales. However, there is a statement by Ibn Abbas, cited by Ibn Taymiyyah in his *Majmu' al-Fatawa*, which states: if the goods are appraised and sold immediately, there is no harm; but if the payment is deferred, it is considered not permissible. What is your opinion?

Answer:
The correct view is that there is no disagreement regarding installment sales. If one sells goods in installments over known periods, there is no disagreement in this. The companions of Barirah sold Barirah in installments during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he approved of them. They sold her for a price paid in installments over ten years, forty dirhams each year, meaning one ounce, one ounce each year, which is forty dirhams. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not object to their selling her in installments. So, selling in installments... for trade, twenty thousand per year, or one thousand per month, or one hundred per month; there is no harm in that if the installments are known.
But some scholars said: if he appraises it and says, "It is worth so many thousand in cash, and one thousand and one hundred on credit," that this resembles usury or interest. However, the correct view is that this is not usury or interest, and there is nothing wrong with it; because he says to him: "If you are buying it now in cash, the price is so much; and if you are buying it on credit, the price is so much." If they agree on a known amount, agreeing on the cash price, there is no harm; or if they agree on the deferred price, there is no harm. But they should not part until they have agreed on a known amount; there is no harm in that.