I say: Anyone who wishes to employ this arrangement with borrowers must have suitable merchandise in stock. When a prospective buyer approaches him, he should inform the buyer of the cash price if payment is immediate and of the deferred price if payment is postponed. He must not repurchase the goods from the buyer; rather, he should hand them over so that the buyer may dispose of them as he sees fit.
If he does repurchase them from the buyer, this becomes the issue of ʿīnah, which will be discussed, Allah willing.
Decision of the Islamic Fiqh Council concerning the ruling on tawarruq sale:
All praise is due to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet, our master and Prophet Muhammad—may Allah bless him, his family, and his Companions.
To proceed:
The Council of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, affiliated with the Muslim World League, in its fifteenth session held in Mecca al-Mukarramah, which commenced on Saturday, 11 Rajab 1419 AH (31/10/1998 CE), examined the issue of the ruling on tawarruq sale.
After deliberation, discussion, and reference to the evidences, legal principles, and scholarly statements on the matter, the Council resolved as follows:
First: Tawarruq sale is defined as the purchase of a commodity that is in the seller’s possession and ownership for a deferred price, after which the buyer sells it for cash to someone other than the original seller in order to obtain currency (waraq).
Second: This form of tawarruq sale is permissible according to the Sharīʿah, and this is the position of the majority of scholars, because the default ruling on sales is permissibility, as Allah says: “Allah has permitted trade” (al-Baqarah 2:275). No element of ribā appears in this sale—neither in intent nor in form—and people have a genuine need for it to settle debts, pay marriage expenses, and the like.
Third: The permissibility of this sale is conditional upon the buyer not reselling the commodity, for a price lower than that for which he bought it, to its original seller—whether directly or through an intermediary. Should he do so, both parties will have fallen