This appears to be another quote from Michaux-Bellaire and the context is ‘the current practices of economic life in the Holy City of Mecca during his stay there in 1884-5’:
“The Muslim usury-law is, it is true, very severe… but many usurers have no scruple about violating the canon-law, and the interpretation of it gives them every sort of opportunity of getting round it. The commonest modes of evasion are: (1) a higher sum is mentioned in the bill which is for a fixed date; (2) the lender sells the borrower some article at a high price to be paid at a future date and buys it back from him, as arranged, for a smaller sum to be paid down at once…”
(Source: Maxime Rodinson, Islam and Capitalism, Chapter 3)
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