Fatwa No : 81932
The Ruling on Buying and Selling Goods on Installments

The Ruling on Buying and Selling Goods on Installments

What do the respected scholars and esteemed muftis say regarding the following issues:(1) Is it permissible to buy or sell items on installments? For example, if something is sold for 1,000 in cash but for 1,500 on credit, is such a transaction allowed in Islam?
(2) Secondly, I am a government employee. The government used to deduct Rs. 35 forcibly from my salary under the name of a fund, and later, I voluntarily increased the deduction to Rs. 100. Eventually, the government returns the total amount with an additional bonus or profit. I continued this deduction for about four to five years, and someone recently told me that this involves compound interest. Now, my total deposited amount with profit is approximately 18,000 rupees. My question is: Can I withdraw and use this amount, especially when I don’t know the exact breakdown of the principal and the interest? Another question: I currently own approximately 12 tolas of gold. If this is pure gold, is Zakat obligatory on it?
Or is Zakat only necessary if the gold jewelry weighs 7 tolas or more? And if I gift part of the gold to one of my daughters so that I am left with less than 7 tolas, will Zakat still be obligatory on me? Also, I don’t own any silver or cash, except that I occasionally keep 4,000–5,000 rupees aside for emergency expenses.

الجوابُ حامِدا ًو مُصلیِّا ً

The method of conducting business on installments as described in the question is, without doubt, permissible and valid according to Islamic law, provided that the terms of deferred payment are agreed upon at the time of the contract, and no additional amount is charged later as a penalty for delayed payments. Also, the transaction must be free from other invalidating conditions (i.e., conditions that nullify or corrupt the contract).
2. Regarding the fund mentioned in the question—if what is meant is the Provident Fund, then it should be understood that: For the amount that is forcibly deducted from an employee’s salary without their permission or choice, and then the institution matches this amount from its own funds, the entire amount, including the profit given on it (even if termed as interest), is lawful and permissible for the employee to receive and use. However, for the amount that is deducted with the employee’s own consent and choice, receiving any additional profit on that amount is not permissible, and it must be avoided. Therefore, the amount of Rs. 100 or any other sum which the questioner voluntarily contributed to the fund—only that exact principal amount may be taken back and used. Any profit earned on that voluntarily contributed amount must be given in charity to the poor and needy without the intention of reward (thawab).
As for the gold:If it is in the form of jewelry, then its total weight including impurities (alloys) is considered. If the questioner also possesses cash (as mentioned in the question), then even if the gold is less than 7.5 tolas, if the combined value of the gold and cash reaches the value of 52.5 tolas of silver, then upon completion of a year, Zakat becomes obligatory, and one-fortieth (2.5%) of the total value must be given in ownership to those eligible to receive Zakat. However, if one possesses only gold, and it is less than 7.5 tolas, then Zakat is not obligatory.

مأخَذُ الفَتوی

و فی الدر المختار: و في الأشباه كل قرض جر نفعا حرام الخ
و فی الشامیة : أي إذا كان مشروطا كما علم مما نقله عن البحر و عن الخلاصة و في الذخيرة و إن لم يكن النفع مشروطا في القرض، فعلى قول الكرخي لا بأس به (الیٰ قوله) ثم رأيت في جواهر الفتاوى إذا كان مشروطا صار قرضا فيه منفعة و هو ربا و إلا فلا بأس به في المنح ملخصا و تعقبه الحموي بأن ما كان ربا لا يظهر فيه فرق بين الديانة و القضاء على أنه لا حاجة إلى التوفيق بعد الفتوى على ما تقدم أي من أنه يباح اھ (5/165)۔
وفی شرح المجلة : البیع مع تاجیل الثمن وتقسیطه صحیح یلزم ان تکون المدة معلومة فی البیع بالتاجیل والتقسیط اھ (ص/50)۔
وفي معارف السنن: من ملك بملك خبيث ولم يمكنه الرد إلى المالك فسبيله التصدق على الفقراء (۱/ ۳۴)-
کمافی الھدایۃ: ليس فيما دون مائتي درهم صدقة " لقوله عليه الصلاة والسلام " ليس فيما دون خمس أواق صدقة " والأوقية أربعون درهما " فإذا كانت مائتين وحال عليها الحول ففيها خمسة دراهم (الیٰ قولہ)فصل في الذهب" ليس فيما دون عشرين مثقالا من الذهب صدقة فإذا كانت عشرين مثقالا ففيها نصف مثقال (الیٰ قولہ) والمعتبر في الدراهم وزن سبعة وهو أن تكون العشرة منها وزن سبعة مثاقيل بذلك جرى التقدير في ديوان عمر رضي الله عنه واستقر الأمر عليه " وإذا كان الغالب على الورق الفضة فهو في حكم الفضة وإذا كان الغالب عليها الغش فهو في حكم العروض يعتبر أن تبلغ قيمته نصابا "(الیٰ قولہ)الزكاة واجبة في عروض التجارة كائنة ما كانت إذا بلغت قيمتها نصابا من الورق أو الذهب "(الیٰ قولہ)يقومها بما هو أنفع للمساكين " احتياطا لحق الفقراء(الیٰ قولہ)قال: " وتضم قيمة العروض إلى الذهب والفضة حتى يتم النصاب اھ(1/102)۔