Offering Discounts & Riba Do discounts given by a businessperson to the customers render the normal transactions as Riba ? Please consider the following circumstances: Discounts which are given to customers who purchase in bulk. Discounts which are given to customers who pay in cash rather than credit. Discounts which are given to customers who pay within a specified period of time. Discounts which are given to regular customers. Reply The case specified in (a) and (d) is clear of Riba as well as anything else prohibited in Islam. On the contrary, (b) and (c) entail an element of Riba and should, therefore, be avoided. If you look closely at the options (b) and (c), they are, in effect, asking for an additional payment (equal to the discount lost) for offering a specified time-lag or delay in making the payment. In other words, both (b) and (c) offer a loan (in kind) for an additional payment at a specified rate. This is exactly what Riba is [1] . I hope this helps. Regards, The Learner Home Page [1] Please note that Riba' is a pre-determined additional payment demanded by the seller (of the asset) from the buyer, in return for allowing a stipulated time to make the payment for the transacted sale. The asset being sold may be a real asset or a financial asset (i.e. it may be a house, a piece of cloth, gold, or paper currency etc.).