The Ruling on Transferring Funds Through Riba-Based Banks
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh:
And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy.
The questioner:
May Allah preserve you, O Shaykh. May Allah prolong your life. In obedience to Him, please proceed. Your brother Siraj al-Din from India, meaning he resides in Dammam. Shaykh, I have a question about the riba-based bank: how do we, the believing Muslims, deal with it?
The presenter:
Yes. The question.
The questioner:
We have the riba-based bank. For example, we send Saudi money from there to India, and the money must incur riba.
The presenter:
The issue of transfers, O Honorable Shaykh, from one house to another.
The questioner:
We are talking about my dealings with it.
The Shaykh:
Yes, the transfer is permissible, the transfer.
The questioner:
Yes, but what remains in the bank, I mean.
The presenter:
Well, listen to the answer now, please proceed.
The Shaykh:
I say the transfer is permissible. So, if you transfer the amount to the person who receives it there himself, my brother, there is an echo, there is an echo of the sound.
The presenter:
Well, perhaps the brothers can fix the audio interference with the Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
This is a technical issue.
The presenter:
Please, yes, please, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
I say if he transfers the amount himself to India or elsewhere and hands it to the recipient there himself, there is no harm, even if they take a fee from him. But if he gives the bank an amount here on the condition that they deliver its equivalent in money there, that is currency exchange.
It requires the exchange of possession in the meeting, so this is not permissible. But if you buy the amount of money you want to send to the person you want there, and you buy it from your place of residence, for example from Dammam, and send it yourself, there is no harm. But if you hand it to the bank and the bank delivers its equivalent there, that is a delay in taking possession, and a delay in taking possession is riba al-nasi'ah (usury of deferment), yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy.
The questioner:
May Allah preserve you, O Shaykh. May Allah prolong your life. In obedience to Him, please proceed. Your brother Siraj al-Din from India, meaning he resides in Dammam. Shaykh, I have a question about the riba-based bank: how do we, the believing Muslims, deal with it?
The presenter:
Yes. The question.
The questioner:
We have the riba-based bank. For example, we send Saudi money from there to India, and the money must incur riba.
The presenter:
The issue of transfers, O Honorable Shaykh, from one house to another.
The questioner:
We are talking about my dealings with it.
The Shaykh:
Yes, the transfer is permissible, the transfer.
The questioner:
Yes, but what remains in the bank, I mean.
The presenter:
Well, listen to the answer now, please proceed.
The Shaykh:
I say the transfer is permissible. So, if you transfer the amount to the person who receives it there himself, my brother, there is an echo, there is an echo of the sound.
The presenter:
Well, perhaps the brothers can fix the audio interference with the Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
This is a technical issue.
The presenter:
Please, yes, please, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
I say if he transfers the amount himself to India or elsewhere and hands it to the recipient there himself, there is no harm, even if they take a fee from him. But if he gives the bank an amount here on the condition that they deliver its equivalent in money there, that is currency exchange.
It requires the exchange of possession in the meeting, so this is not permissible. But if you buy the amount of money you want to send to the person you want there, and you buy it from your place of residence, for example from Dammam, and send it yourself, there is no harm. But if you hand it to the bank and the bank delivers its equivalent there, that is a delay in taking possession, and a delay in taking possession is riba al-nasi'ah (usury of deferment), yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
قناة «مكة و المدينة»، 03 فتاوى على الهواء - 03 02 1433هـ _ الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (9:00)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.