Ruling on converting Saudi riyal into a foreign currency via a check
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, he says: Is it permissible for me to exchange Saudi riyal for a foreign currency that my relatives will receive in my country, while I am here in Saudi Arabia, without an official document, if the amount is transferred by a check that is sent and then cashed out, knowing that the bank deducts its fee for the transfer, i.e., for the check?
The Shaykh:
The safest course is to avoid the problem. You exchange the Saudi currency for the currency you want in the country you are sending it to. Then you transfer the exchanged currency. The currency you exchanged, the currency you want to send to your family, you send it as a transfer after you have exchanged it. You convert the Saudi riyal into the currency you want and transfer the currency you want. This is the safest way. If you do this, there is absolutely no problem with it. However, if you hand over Saudi riyal and receive in exchange riyal or currency or the currency of another country, there is a major problem with this, because there is no simultaneous exchange. Exchange requires simultaneous exchange in the same session. This is what did not happen here: you handed over the Saudi riyal and did not receive the equivalent in the same session, but the equivalent is handed over in a distant land, another country. This is a major problem, and it falls under riba al-nasi'ah (usury of deferment).
But some scholars of the present era, including the Fiqh Council in Makkah of the League, have ruled that if the check is certified, and you receive a certified check in the currency you want in the other country, this serves as a substitute for the currency. The certified check serves as a substitute for the currency. According to this fatwa, there is no harm if the check is certified. But if the check is not certified, this is not permissible, because you have not received either currency or what serves as a substitute for currency, which is the certified check. They accept it, but we do not accept it yet. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
How is the relationship between the Shari'ah ruling and people? Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Honorable Shaykh, he says: Is it permissible for me to exchange Saudi riyal for a foreign currency that my relatives will receive in my country, while I am here in Saudi Arabia, without an official document, if the amount is transferred by a check that is sent and then cashed out, knowing that the bank deducts its fee for the transfer, i.e., for the check?
The Shaykh:
The safest course is to avoid the problem. You exchange the Saudi currency for the currency you want in the country you are sending it to. Then you transfer the exchanged currency. The currency you exchanged, the currency you want to send to your family, you send it as a transfer after you have exchanged it. You convert the Saudi riyal into the currency you want and transfer the currency you want. This is the safest way. If you do this, there is absolutely no problem with it. However, if you hand over Saudi riyal and receive in exchange riyal or currency or the currency of another country, there is a major problem with this, because there is no simultaneous exchange. Exchange requires simultaneous exchange in the same session. This is what did not happen here: you handed over the Saudi riyal and did not receive the equivalent in the same session, but the equivalent is handed over in a distant land, another country. This is a major problem, and it falls under riba al-nasi'ah (usury of deferment).
But some scholars of the present era, including the Fiqh Council in Makkah of the League, have ruled that if the check is certified, and you receive a certified check in the currency you want in the other country, this serves as a substitute for the currency. The certified check serves as a substitute for the currency. According to this fatwa, there is no harm if the check is certified. But if the check is not certified, this is not permissible, because you have not received either currency or what serves as a substitute for currency, which is the certified check. They accept it, but we do not accept it yet. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
How is the relationship between the Shari'ah ruling and people? Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
75-اللقاء الأسبوعي مع الشيخ صالح الفوزان - 04 — archive.org (37:00)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.