Selling deferred bonds from the Silos Authority to banks for a portion of their value
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Fatwa number ( 18656 )
Q: We inform Your Excellency that the Juf Agricultural Development Company has debts owed to its owners, and it holds agricultural certificates for its receivables at the silos, with payment deferred to the years 1418 AH and 1419 AH. If it does not settle its debts, the company will suffer a severe loss. The banks have offered to cash out the certificates now in exchange for a deduction from their value. We hope you will provide us with your religious ruling on this matter, and may Allah reward you with good.
A: It is not permissible to sell or buy current or deferred monetary bonds for less than their value or more than their value; because that is considered explicit riba (usury or interest). Both riba al-fadl (usury of excess in a like-for-like exchange) and riba al-nasi'ah (usury of deferment) are present in this transaction, and both are forbidden by explicit text.
Q: We inform Your Excellency that the Juf Agricultural Development Company has debts owed to its owners, and it holds agricultural certificates for its receivables at the silos, with payment deferred to the years 1418 AH and 1419 AH. If it does not settle its debts, the company will suffer a severe loss. The banks have offered to cash out the certificates now in exchange for a deduction from their value. We hope you will provide us with your religious ruling on this matter, and may Allah reward you with good.
A: It is not permissible to sell or buy current or deferred monetary bonds for less than their value or more than their value; because that is considered explicit riba (usury or interest). Both riba al-fadl (usury of excess in a like-for-like exchange) and riba al-nasi'ah (usury of deferment) are present in this transaction, and both are forbidden by explicit text.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.