Is it considered usury to agree to pay the fees of a lawyer, a debt collection agency, or a person authorized by the seller, which increases the amount beyond the original contract, when purchasing Sawa cards in installments?
Installment sales are permissible if the seller owns the commodity and the contract is free from a penalty clause for late payment. Procrastination in repaying a debt is forbidden. The creditor may fine the procrastinator for the costs incurred in collecting their debt, such as lawyer's fees and litigation expenses, provided that the creditor does not personally benefit from it, and that the fine is customary and not excessive. As for the one in financial difficulty, it is forbidden to pressure them, as Allah Almighty says: (And if there is one in [financial] difficulty, then [let there be] postponement until [a time of] ease). Therefore, there is no objection to including in the contract a commitment to pay lawyer's fees or debt collection agency fees, but only for the affluent procrastinator. The fine must be actual and customary, not an amount set by the seller.
Summary from Ftawy's records · added here
Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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Where this answer came from
- Source platform
- Ftawy
- Original fatwa ID
- 190758
- Added here
- . This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
- Text
- Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
- Read the full ruling
- Read the full answer on Ftawy