if he resorts to a stratagem whereby the amount owed is increased in return for an extension of the term, in a form whose usurious nature is evident, this is impermissible, and he is entitled only to the original debt. This is the very usury concerning which Allah revealed the Quran: when the debt fell due, a man would say to his debtor, “Will you pay, or increase the debt?” If the debtor paid, that settled it; otherwise, the creditor increased the debt and extended the term. Allah and His Messenger prohibited this, and commanded that those who would not desist be fought. And Allah knows best.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man needed to borrow some dirhams but could find no lender except someone who charges interest. The lender goes to the market, buys goods for him for fifty dirhams, and sells them to him at a specified profit, payable after a specified period. Is this a bridge to usury?

He replied:

If he purchases goods for him and sells them to him, then buys them back from him, or if their original owner—from whom the lender purchased them—sells them to a third party, this is usury.

There are numerous reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the Companions, and the Successors prohibiting this.

One example is the report concerning ‘Ā’ishah and the bondwoman who had borne Zayd ibn Arqam a child. The latter said to her, “Mother of the Believers, I bought a slave boy from Zayd ibn Arqam for eight hundred dirhams on credit, payable when the stipend was distributed. Then I bought him from him for six hundred in cash.”

‘Ā’ishah said:

“How wretched