Is a Sale with Different Cash and Credit Prices Permissible? – Sharʿī Clarification
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 218
I own a motorcycle which I purchased for sixty thousand (60,000) rupees in cash. I now wish to sell the same motorcycle on a ten-month credit term for ninety-five thousand (95,000) rupees, and the buyer also agrees to this arrangement. My profit would be thirty-five thousand (35,000) rupees. Is such a business transaction permissible in Islam?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
It is narrated from Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه:
"نهی رسول الله صلی الله علیه وسلم عن بیعتین فی بیعة"
(Sunan al-Tirmidhī with Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī, Vol. 2, p. 235, Ḥadīth: 1231 – graded ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ; Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Vol. 7, p. 295, Ḥadīth: 6436)
Meaning: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ forbade two sales in a single sale.
This ḥadīth is ḥasan li-dhātihi (sound in itself). Ibn Ḥibbān (al-Mawārid: 1109) and Ibn al-Jārūd (600) graded it ṣaḥīḥ. Al-Baghawī also graded it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ (Sharḥ al-Sunnah, Vol. 8, p. 142, Ḥadīth: 2111).
Imām al-Tirmidhī, al-Baghawī, and other scholars have explained this narration.
The transmitter ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAṭā said:
The meaning is that a man says: “I will sell you this item for ten in cash and for twenty on credit.”
(al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī, Vol. 5, p. 343 – chain is ḥasan)
This interpretation is also the view of Qāḍī Shurayḥ, and among the linguists, al-Khaṭṭābī and Ibn Qutaybah. Among the ḥadīth scholars, al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Ḥibbān have supported this understanding.
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه narrated:
Two sales in a single sale are a form of usury.
(Musnad Aḥmad, Vol. 1, p. 393 – graded ḥasan; Ibn Ḥibbān authenticated it in al-Mawārid: 1111, 1112)
The transmitter of this narration, Samāk ibn Ḥarb, also explained it in a manner matching ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAṭā’s explanation.
(al-Sunnah by al-Marwazī, p. 54; Musnad Aḥmad, Vol. 1, p. 398)
From these evidences, it is clear that offering two different prices for the same sale at the same time (i.e., giving the buyer a choice between two prices without finalizing one) is not permissible in Sharīʿah.
In Tijārat aur Lain Dain ke Masāʾil wa Aḥkām by Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Kīlānī (pp. 111–112), this issue is discussed in detail.
It is also worth noting that Ṭāhir al-Qādrī (Barelwī) in his book Bila Sūd Bankārī (ʿAbūrī Khākah) (p. 79) presents a so-called ḥīlah to make ribā “permissible.”
He even quotes Aḥmad Razā Khān Barelwī as saying in the same book (p. 100) that:
“If a person sells a 10-rupee note to someone for 12 rupees on a one-year promise, it is permissible.”
Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn
✿ If the cash and credit prices are both stated but not finalized at the outset, the sale is not permissible.
✿ If the price is fixed at the start — whether for cash or for credit — and there is no ambiguity in terms and conditions, then the sale can be permissible.
✿ Sharīʿah does not set a specific profit limit, provided the seller does not exploit the buyer’s need in credit transactions.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 218
Question:
I own a motorcycle which I purchased for sixty thousand (60,000) rupees in cash. I now wish to sell the same motorcycle on a ten-month credit term for ninety-five thousand (95,000) rupees, and the buyer also agrees to this arrangement. My profit would be thirty-five thousand (35,000) rupees. Is such a business transaction permissible in Islam?
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
Sharʿī Guidance:
It is narrated from Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه:
"نهی رسول الله صلی الله علیه وسلم عن بیعتین فی بیعة"
(Sunan al-Tirmidhī with Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī, Vol. 2, p. 235, Ḥadīth: 1231 – graded ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ; Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Vol. 7, p. 295, Ḥadīth: 6436)
Meaning: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ forbade two sales in a single sale.
This ḥadīth is ḥasan li-dhātihi (sound in itself). Ibn Ḥibbān (al-Mawārid: 1109) and Ibn al-Jārūd (600) graded it ṣaḥīḥ. Al-Baghawī also graded it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ (Sharḥ al-Sunnah, Vol. 8, p. 142, Ḥadīth: 2111).
Explanation of the Ḥadīth:
Imām al-Tirmidhī, al-Baghawī, and other scholars have explained this narration.
The transmitter ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAṭā said:
The meaning is that a man says: “I will sell you this item for ten in cash and for twenty on credit.”
(al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Bayhaqī, Vol. 5, p. 343 – chain is ḥasan)
This interpretation is also the view of Qāḍī Shurayḥ, and among the linguists, al-Khaṭṭābī and Ibn Qutaybah. Among the ḥadīth scholars, al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Ḥibbān have supported this understanding.
Additional Evidence:
Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه narrated:
Two sales in a single sale are a form of usury.
(Musnad Aḥmad, Vol. 1, p. 393 – graded ḥasan; Ibn Ḥibbān authenticated it in al-Mawārid: 1111, 1112)
The transmitter of this narration, Samāk ibn Ḥarb, also explained it in a manner matching ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAṭā’s explanation.
(al-Sunnah by al-Marwazī, p. 54; Musnad Aḥmad, Vol. 1, p. 398)
Ruling Derived:
From these evidences, it is clear that offering two different prices for the same sale at the same time (i.e., giving the buyer a choice between two prices without finalizing one) is not permissible in Sharīʿah.
Important Note:
In Tijārat aur Lain Dain ke Masāʾil wa Aḥkām by Mawlānā ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Kīlānī (pp. 111–112), this issue is discussed in detail.
It is also worth noting that Ṭāhir al-Qādrī (Barelwī) in his book Bila Sūd Bankārī (ʿAbūrī Khākah) (p. 79) presents a so-called ḥīlah to make ribā “permissible.”
He even quotes Aḥmad Razā Khān Barelwī as saying in the same book (p. 100) that:
“If a person sells a 10-rupee note to someone for 12 rupees on a one-year promise, it is permissible.”
Innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn
Summary:
✿ If the cash and credit prices are both stated but not finalized at the outset, the sale is not permissible.
✿ If the price is fixed at the start — whether for cash or for credit — and there is no ambiguity in terms and conditions, then the sale can be permissible.
✿ Sharīʿah does not set a specific profit limit, provided the seller does not exploit the buyer’s need in credit transactions.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
