SECOND CHAPTER: SALES INVOLVING RIBA
The scholars are unanimous that riba arises in two situations:
- In an actual sale; and
- In liabilities already fixed in one’s debt—whether the liability stems from a sale, a loan, or any other cause.
Regarding riba that occurs in an established liability, it is of two kinds.
The first is unanimously acknowledged: the riba of the pre-Islamic era that has been forbidden. In that practice people would lend on the condition of an increase and a postponement, saying, “Give me more time and I will pay you more.” This is what the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—meant in his Farewell Pilgrimage when he declared:
“Behold, the riba of the Days of Ignorance is abolished, and the first riba I abolish is the riba owed to al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.”
The second form is the arrangement, “Reduce the amount and receive payment sooner.” This is disputed, and we shall address it later.
As for riba in sales, the scholars agree that it is of two kinds: deferment (nasīʾah) and excess (tafāḍul), except for the report from Ibn ʿAbbās in which he denied riba in excess on the basis of the Prophet’s statement—peace and blessings be upon him—:
“There is no riba except in deferment.”
The great majority of jurists, however, hold that riba occurs in both forms because authentic reports to that effect have come from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him.
Discussion of riba therefore falls under four headings:
- Identifying the commodities in which neither excess nor deferment is lawful, and explaining the reason;
- Identifying those in which excess is lawful but deferment is not;
- Identifying those in which both are lawful; and
- Distinguishing what constitutes a single genus from what does not.
FIRST SECTION: COMMODITIES IN WHICH NEITHER EXCESS NOR DEFERMENT IS LAWFUL
The scholars agree that, within one and the same genus of the commodities explicitly named in the ḥadīth of ʿUbadah ibn al-Ṣāmit, both excess and deferment are forbidden—except for what is reported from Ibn ʿAbbās. The ḥadīth of ʿUbadah states:
“I heard the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—prohibit selling gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat, barley for barley, dates for dates, and salt for salt except in equal measure, hand to hand. Whoever gives or takes more has committed riba.”
This ḥadīth is an explicit proof that excess is forbidden when exchanging any of these commodities within its own genus.