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What is the ruling on buying a car in installments from a bank that first owns it from the dealership, and then the bank sells it to the buyer before paying its price to the dealership? Does this resemble the action of Ali ibn Abi Talib in selling the she-camel?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

"Murabaha selling is permissible if it meets the conditions for validity. What was mentioned about the dealership issuing a price quote to the customer in the bank's name, and the bank not disbursing the money to the dealership until several days later, and the car's ownership remaining with the bank until the installments are paid off, does not contradict the validity of the sale. The bank has the right to authorize the customer, and it has the right to keep the car registered in its name as collateral. This does not affect the validity of the sale, even though the usufruct of the mortgagor from the mortgaged item is a point of contention among jurists. As for what was attributed to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding buying a camel for one hundred and selling it for one hundred and sixty, it has not been substantiated, and it is permissible as it falls under the general permissibility of selling."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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