Converting dollars through the bank and receiving dollars in another country

The questioner:
And Honorable Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, we went to the bank to give him dollars.

The Shaykh:
They said.

The questioner:
We went to the bank to give him dollars so that we could receive dollars in our country. But the bank insisted that they first be converted to dirhams, and then we would receive them in our country. Blessed and Exalted is He. We went to more than one bank and could not find a way out, and we are required to deliver the rights to their owners in another country, and there is no way except this. What is the solution?

The Shaykh:
Repeat the question.

The questioner:
I said: We went to the bank to give him dollars so that we could receive them in our country as dollars. The bank said they must first be converted to dirhams, and then we would receive them in our country as dollars. We went to more than that, and we did not find a way out. We are required to deliver the rights to their owners in another country, and there is no way except this.

The Shaykh:
The meaning of the question is that the bank conditioned that the dollars be converted to riyals here, converted to Saudi riyals, and then he be given dollars in exchange for the Saudi riyals in the other country. This is not permissible. This is currency exchange, and currency exchange requires immediate exchange in the presence of both parties. So buy dollars and transfer them.
The solution is that you buy dollars from one of the institutions here and transfer them as a forward sale of dollars there. But if you hand over dirhams and receive dollars in exchange in another country, that is deferred currency exchange, which is not permissible. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: hand to hand, meaning take the contract in the presence of both parties. You can go and buy dollars from other than this bank, buy dollars from one of the institutions, from al-Rajhi or from another, buy dollars, come to the bank and give them to him, and he will transfer them. And if there is one bank, there are other banks, there are other banks. I do not think al-Rajhi institution obliges you to do this work.
If they oblige this, it is not permissible. But they say: We do not take riba (usury or interest) and we do not deal in riba. Is that so?
This path is not permissible. This is the path of converting dirhams and receiving dollars in exchange in another country. It is not permissible except according to the opinion of those who hold that, meaning some contemporary scholars or some fiqh councils say that receiving a certified check is like receiving the money. So if you pay dirhams here and they give you a certified check for dollars there, they say this is like receiving the money. But this opinion is questionable and there are many who disagree with it. Yes.

The questioner:
May Allah give you a good evening.

The Shaykh:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: , and receiving the check is not receiving the money, but rather it is receiving a document, receiving a document only.