provided by someone other than the seller and the commodity is no longer subject to restitution: the seller is entitled to the lesser of its value or its price, even if the loan has been received. According to Ibn al-Qāsim’s other position concerning a sale combined with a loan—namely, that if the loan has been received and the commodity is no longer subject to restitution, its value is payable, whatever that value may be—it follows that the person instructed here should receive the customary fee for such work, however much it amounts to, even if it exceeds the two dinars. The sounder view, however, is that he receives no fee, because awarding him a fee would make it payment for the loan, thereby completing the usury upon which they contracted. This is the position of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab.

There are thus three positions concerning the fee to which he is entitled when the person instructed advances the price as a stipulated condition. This applies when the person giving the instruction is found out promptly and the loan is returned to the person instructed before the former has benefited from it. If, however, the arrangement is not discovered until the person giving the instruction has benefited from the loan for what is considered to be the period they intended, there are only two positions: (First) the person instructed receives the customary fee, however much it amounts to; (second) he receives nothing.

If the arrangement is discovered before the purchase and before the person instructed advances the price, the payment must come from the person giving the instruction. There would then be two positions concerning the fee payable to the person engaged for the work: (First) he receives the customary fee, however much it amounts to; (second) he receives the lesser of the customary fee or the two dinars.

Ibn Habīb holds that once the person instructed advances the payment, the prohibited transaction between them is complete, even if insufficient time has elapsed for the person giving the instruction to benefit from the money advanced. By virtue of the contract, the person instructed is entitled to the customary fee, however much it amounts to. Sahnūn adopted this position in his correction of the case in the Book of Deferred-Payment Sales in al-Mudawwana, replacing “is returned” with “is left in place.” Reflect on this.

As for the second case, it is where he says, “Buy such-and-such a commodity for me for ten in cash, and I will purchase it from you for twelve on deferred payment.” This is forbidden, unlawful and impermissible, because the increase charged on the commodity is in exchange for deferment. If this occurs, the commodity belongs to the person giving the instruction, since the purchase was made on his behalf. The person instructed merely lent him its price in order to recover a greater sum from him at a later date. The person giving the instruction must therefore pay him the ten immediately, and the usurious increase is waived. According to one position, the person instructed receives the customary fee for such work, however much it amounts to. According to another, he receives the lesser of the customary fee or the two dinars stipulated as a usurious increase in his favour. According to Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, he receives no fee under any circumstances, because that would complete the usury, as in the preceding case,