al-Mudayana

al-Mudayana (Arabic: المداينة, lit. 'Debt Transactions'), also known as Aqsam al-Mudayana (أقسام المداينة) or Risala fi Aqsam al-Mudayana, is a legal treatise on the jurisprudence of credit sales and debt contracts by the Saudi scholar Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymin (d. 1421 AH / 2001 CE) Nataij al-Buhuth wa Khawa…+1.

Purpose and Scope

Ibn Uthaymin composed the treatise to clarify the legal rulings governing debt and credit transactions (al-mudayana), which he defined as the exchange of an absent good for present cash, present cash for an absent good, or an absent item for an absent item Min Ahkam al-Fiqh al-Isla…. Observing the widespread prevalence of deferred-payment transactions among the public, he sought to distinguish legitimate, blessed transactions from prohibited forms involving usury (riba) or unlawful legal stratagems (hiyal) Nataij al-Buhuth wa Khawa…+1. The work was published as a standalone monograph, including an edition issued by Dar Taybah in Riyadh in 1404 AH Nataij al-Buhuth wa Khawa….

Structure and Content

The treatise classifies debt transactions into eight distinct categories (aqsam), evaluating the legal status, conditions, and scriptural rationale for each Nataij al-Buhuth wa Khawa…+1:

• Permissible Transactions (Divisions 1–3): The first division addresses purchasing a commodity or real estate on deferred terms at a price higher than the cash price to meet personal consumption needs, such as buying a residence or vehicle for personal use or leasing Nataij al-Buhuth wa Khawa…+1. The second covers purchasing goods on credit with the intention of commercial trade and awaiting market price increases Nataij al-Buhuth wa Khawa…+1. The third covers acquiring needed funds through forward delivery contracts where a commodity is established as a liability Nataij al-Buhuth wa Khawa….
• Repurchase Sales (Division 4): This section examines bay' al-'ina, in which a person sells a commodity on credit and subsequently repurchases it from the buyer for a lower cash price, which Ibn Uthaymin classifies as an impermissible usurious subterfuge Min Ahkam al-Fiqh al-Isla….
• Monetization Transactions (Division 5): This section analyzes tawarruq, where an individual in need of cash purchases a commodity on credit and sells it to an unrelated third party for cash Mawqi al-Islam Su'al wa J…+1. Ibn Uthaymin outlines the scholarly dispute, noting the position of impermissibility chosen by Ibn Taymiyya and reported in one narration from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, but adopts a qualified position permitting it under four conditions to alleviate hardship, including that the buyer must take physical possession before reselling and must not sell it back to the original creditor Min Ahkam al-Fiqh al-Isla…+1.
• Commercial Storefront Intermediation (Division 6): This section discusses an arrangement where a debtor and creditor agree on a loan with a predetermined markup (such as taking ten for eleven), purchase goods of that value from a merchant, sell them on credit to the debtor, who immediately resells them back to the merchant at a discount deducting a commission fee (sa'y) Min Ahkam al-Fiqh al-Isla…. The author categorizes this practice as strictly prohibited and cites Ibn Taymiyya's consensus on its illegality Min Ahkam al-Fiqh al-Isla….
• Debt Rollover (Division 7): This covers rolling over an unpaid matured debt by adding a new debt with an increased price, which Ibn Uthaymin identifies as identical to the pre-Islamic usury of the Jahiliyya ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَأْكُلُوا الرِّبَا أَضْعَافًا مُضَاعَفَةً , "O you who have believed, do not consume usury, doubled and multiplied") Min Ahkam al-Fiqh al-Isla…+1.
• Tripartite Debt Renewal (Division 8): This addresses collusive three-party stratagems (qalb al-dayn) where a creditor directs a defaulting debtor to borrow from another party under a prearranged scheme to settle the initial debt before reversing the arrangement, which is deemed unlawful al-Mudayana.

In the treatise, Ibn Uthaymin also highlights contractual phrasing in installment sales, stating that explicitly formulating the contract as selling at cost plus a segregated numerical markup per unit of time is either disapproved (makruh) or prohibited, citing Imam Ahmad's censure of phrasing such as "selling ten for eleven" Mawqi al-Islam Su'al wa J…. Instead, he notes that the correct legal method is for the seller to calculate the total price inclusive of profit and quote a single unified deferred price to the debtor Mawqi al-Islam Su'al wa J….