Assalamu Alaikum,An investment company (A) agreed to buy a car for me through Murabaha. The dealer (B) sells it for $500, but the company can only pay $400. To help the deal succeed, I gave the dealer $100 so he would reduce the price to $400. I told him if the deal succeeds, he keeps it; if it fails, he returns it. My intention is only to facilitate the deal. Is this $100 halal?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) is His slave and Messenger.

The closest permissible solution in your matter is to request the investment company to purchase the car for you at 500, with the agreement that you will pay them after they buy the car. When signing the sales contract with them, you pay 100 as a down payment from the agreed price, and the remaining amount is paid in installments according to the agreed terms.

As for paying this amount directly to the seller without the knowledge of the company, this is not permissible. It is stated in the Al-Ma'ayeer Al-Shar'iyyah: “Any prior contractual connection between the client instructing the purchase and the original seller, if it exists, must be annulled … so that the transaction does not become a mere riba-based loan.”

Allah knows best.