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What is the religious ruling on the permissibility of the activity of a company that sells cars in installments, then sells the promissory notes to a bank at a discount, and charges the customer a higher interest rate without taking additional amounts for late payment?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Selling bills of exchange to usurious banks for any additional or lump-sum percentage is unlawful (haram), as it involves both riba al-fadl (usury of surplus) and riba al-nasiah (usury of delay). As for selling bills of exchange to customers, it is permissible at any price agreed upon by both parties, whether the payment is immediate or in installments, provided that no increase is imposed on the buyer in case of delay in paying the installments. Caution must be exercised in dealing with usurious banks, except out of necessity and within the narrowest limits.

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

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