Written by: Imrān Ayyūb Lāhorī
Bayʿ al-ʿĪnah is when a person sells an item for a fixed price on deferred payment, and once the set period is over, he buys back the same item from the buyer at a lower cash price, so that the remaining extra amount stays as a debt on the buyer.
It is called ʿĪnah because the sold item returns in its original state to the seller, and the principal money eventually comes back to the seller as well.
[Subul al-Salām: 3/1132]
➊ Ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما:
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
«إذا تبايعتم بالعينة وأخذتم أذناب البقر ورضيتم بالزرع وتركتم الجهاد سلط الله عليكم ذلا لا ينزعه حتى ترجعوا إلى دينكم»
“When you engage in Bayʿ al-ʿĪnah, hold onto the tails of cattle, become content with agriculture, and abandon jihād, Allāh will inflict humiliation upon you, and He will not remove it until you return to your religion.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ: al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 11, Abū Dāwūd: 3462, Aḥmad: 7/27, Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr: 3/19, al-Ṭabarānī al-Kabīr: 13583, al-Bayhaqī: 5/316)
➋ Incident with ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها:
A woman said to ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها:
“I sold a slave to Zayd ibn Arqam رضي الله عنه for eight hundred dirhams on credit, and then bought the same slave from him for six hundred dirhams in cash.”
ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها replied:
“You have made a very bad sale and purchase.”
(Aḥmad, as in Naṣb al-Rāyah: 4/16; ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 8/184; al-Dāraquṭnī: 3/52; al-Bayhaqī: 5/330)
Bayʿ al-ʿĪnah is not permissible, because it is a legal stratagem to make ribā lawful.
Imām Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله has proven its prohibition with strong evidences.
(As in Nayl al-Awṭār: 3/588)
Definition of Bayʿ al-ʿĪnah:
Bayʿ al-ʿĪnah is when a person sells an item for a fixed price on deferred payment, and once the set period is over, he buys back the same item from the buyer at a lower cash price, so that the remaining extra amount stays as a debt on the buyer.
It is called ʿĪnah because the sold item returns in its original state to the seller, and the principal money eventually comes back to the seller as well.
[Subul al-Salām: 3/1132]
Evidence from the Sunnah:
➊ Ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما:
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
«إذا تبايعتم بالعينة وأخذتم أذناب البقر ورضيتم بالزرع وتركتم الجهاد سلط الله عليكم ذلا لا ينزعه حتى ترجعوا إلى دينكم»
“When you engage in Bayʿ al-ʿĪnah, hold onto the tails of cattle, become content with agriculture, and abandon jihād, Allāh will inflict humiliation upon you, and He will not remove it until you return to your religion.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ: al-Ṣaḥīḥah: 11, Abū Dāwūd: 3462, Aḥmad: 7/27, Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr: 3/19, al-Ṭabarānī al-Kabīr: 13583, al-Bayhaqī: 5/316)
➋ Incident with ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها:
A woman said to ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها:
“I sold a slave to Zayd ibn Arqam رضي الله عنه for eight hundred dirhams on credit, and then bought the same slave from him for six hundred dirhams in cash.”
ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها replied:
“You have made a very bad sale and purchase.”
(Aḥmad, as in Naṣb al-Rāyah: 4/16; ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 8/184; al-Dāraquṭnī: 3/52; al-Bayhaqī: 5/330)
Views of the Fuqahāʾ:
- Imām Aḥmad, Imām Mālik, and Imām Abū Ḥanīfah: Bayʿ al-ʿĪnah is not permissible.
- Shāfiʿiyyah: It is permissible.
[Rawḍat al-Ṭālibīn: 3/81; al-Umm: 3/48; al-Mughnī: 6/260; Kashshāf al-Qināʿ: 3/185; al-Hidāyah: 3/47]
Preferred (Rājiḥ) Opinion:
Bayʿ al-ʿĪnah is not permissible, because it is a legal stratagem to make ribā lawful.
Imām Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله has proven its prohibition with strong evidences.
(As in Nayl al-Awṭār: 3/588)
