Bayʿ al-wafaʾ at more than the original price

Question

Question: People sell land they own on the condition that when, within a period of some years, the money is returned, the land will be taken back. In common usage this is called “kat-tabadla” (a sale of land with the right of buy-back). Now the matter to be clarified is: is the above-mentioned form permissible or not?

Answer

Selling on the condition of return is a defective (fasid) sale and is not permissible. It is called bayʿ al-wafaʾ, which has the ruling of a pledge; it is not permissible for the buyer to derive benefit from such land (thus in Radd al-Muhtar).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.