Fatwa regarding Usury in trading

The following are some fatwas of the Standing Committee for Scientific Research and Fatwa, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, regarding usury in trading:

Ruling for Trade Up of Gold Jewelry
Wisdom beyond the disallowance of Usury
Question:

Core of the question: One came to a gold store bringing his already-used jewelry, then the store owner bought the jewelry from him, and he mentioned the buying price of that old jewelry in Riyal currency. Before the store owner paid him, at the same place and time, the seller bought new jewelry from the store and he was told about its price. Then, he paid the gap between the price of the old jewelries and the price of the new jewelries. Is it allowed for him to do so, or, should the store owner handed the payment of the old jewelries to the buyer, and after that the buyer paid the price of the new jewelries he just bought there, with money taken from his selling price or other source?

Answer:

In this condition, the store owner ought to pay the price of the old gold jewelry first, and then the seller of that old jewelry, after receiving the payment, is free to choose: if he wish, he may buy new jewelry from the store where he had sold his old gold, or from another store. And if he wish to buy from the same store, he may use the money he received or money from another source to pay the gold he boght. This practice meant for a muslim not to involve in the forbidden usury, that is by selling the lower quality of usury commodity with a similar stuff which has better quality, by adding something on one of it. It is based  on a hadith narrated by al Bukhari and Muslim, – may Allah have mercy on them both- below:
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أن رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم استعمل رجلا على خيبر، فجاءه بتمر جنيب، فقال له رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم: (أكلُّ تمر خيبر هكذا؟) فقال: لا، والله يا رسول الله، إنا لنأخذ الصاع من هذا، بالصاعين، والصاعين بالثلاثة، فقال رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم: (فلا تفعل، بع الجمع-أي التمر الذي أقل من ذلك- بالدراهم، ثم ابتع بالدراهم جنيبا)

“That the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- ever appointed a man to become his employee in Khaibar. One day he came to him bringing the best quality dates, so the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- asked him: “Are all dates of Khaibar similar to these dates?”. He replied, “No, indeed, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah, indeed we bought a part of this date with two parts (of other kind of date), and two parts with three parts.” Then the Messenger of Allah -peace and prayer of Allah be upon him- said: “Do not do it, sell the ordinary dates- he meant the lower quality dates- with dirham, and then buy the best quality dates using that dirham.”

And guidance is with Allah, may peace and prayer always be upon Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companion.

Source: “Majmu’ Fatawa al Lajnah ad Da’imah”, 13/466, no. 1974)

Question:

What runs today in gold trading is: one came to me (the gold store owner,-ed) bringing the jewelry that he/she has long worn, and he/she intended to exchange it with a newer gold jewelry, so what I did was: I bought the old jewelry first, with a lower price from the new jewelry’s price, since it costed me some money to reproduce it. After that, I handed the money to him in cash. After he received his money, I weighted the new gold jewelry he wished according to the current price applied in the market -which is more expensive than the price of the old jewelry- , and for information, we didn’t stipulate him to buy new jewelry from our store, it was up to him, if he wanted to buy it from me or from another seller. Please give me explanation about the validity of such transaction.

Answer:

The case you’ve mentioned in the question, that is you bought the gold and then handed the money to it’s seller, then in turn you sold new jewelry to him with current price market without any stipulation beforehand is alright (allowed). Because your obligation is to give the price of the jewelry he sold to you in cash. After that, he is free to choose, if he likes, he may buy a new jewelry from you, and he should pay it in cash. It is alright for you if the money you gave him became a part of money that he paid to you, because selling gold with silver or with any currency is illegal, unless it is done in cash.

And guidance is with Allah, may peace and prayer always be upon Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companion.

Author: Ustadz Dr. Muhammad Arifin Badri -may Allah preserve him-
Article of www.syaria.com

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