Is it permissible for an Islamic bank to sell goods via Murabaha without actually taking possession of them, and then suffice with a promise-to-sell agreement and collect the price without completing the final sale contract?

The aforementioned sale is merely a stratagem to circumvent usury (riba) because the bank lent the customer the price with usurious interest. This is a stratagem employed by many banks that claim to operate according to Islamic financial principles. Sheikh Ibn 'Uthaymeen issued a fatwa (definition) prohibiting such a transaction because it is a stratagem to circumvent usury, given that the car did not come into the possession of the installment seller.