you will find it closer to what is correct than the views of others. Nevertheless, he was not infallible. There are about ten issues, or perhaps more, in which we hold that the correct view differs from his position, may Allah have mercy on him, for he, like others, was at times correct and at times mistaken.
This is also the apparent implication of Ibn Abbas’s reasoning, may Allah be pleased with him. When Tawus ibn Kaysan asked him, “Why is it prohibited?” he replied, “Because it is dirhams for dirhams, with taking possession deferred.” (1) That is, it is postponed. The point is that if I buy a commodity from a man for one hundred dinars and leave it with him, then sell it for one hundred and ten dinars, it is as though I had sold one hundred dinars for one hundred and ten; the commodity is merely a means in between. This inference from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, is very close to the truth, because in this case it resembles an inah sale, a sale-and-repurchase arrangement used to conceal usury, in some respects.
If Ibn Abbas, may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him, held this to be the rationale—and he was a noble and learned Companion—then this shows you the reprehensible nature of the transactions widely prevalent today which they call installment sales: the buyer selects a particular commodity, then goes to a merchant and says, “Buy it for me, then sell it to me at a profit.” This is plainly usury, as anyone who reflects upon it can see, for in reality the merchant has lent him the price with an increase. Instead of saying, for example, “Give me the value of this commodity, and I will give you an added profit,” he says, “Buy it for me, then sell it to me.” The merchant had no desire whatsoever to purchase it; were it not for this arrangement, he would not have bought it for even the smallest sum. It is clear that what is intended is usury, and this is not difficult for anyone who reflects upon it. If Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, held that the reason for prohibiting the sale of an item before taking possession of it is that it resembles a sale of