Is it permissible to sell a retirement salary?

The questioner : In our case in Kuwait, an employee is hired as if he were a worker, and then he is retired, so he is left with no money. It is possible for a person to sell this money; for example, he might sell ten percent. If he sells one hundred Kuwaiti dinars, he does not receive this amount unless the one hundred dinars are returned to Fatimah and her children. What is the ruling on this?

The Shaykh : I did not understand how.

The questioner : A man was employed for twenty years.

Another questioner : Selling the pension.

The Shaykh : How?

Another questioner : Selling the pension is called.

The questioner : Selling a part of his salary. Shaykh, in Kuwait, when a person is retired, his salary remains for his children.

The Shaykh : Meaning the children inherit it after their father’s death.

The questioner : No, he is still alive. The state does not give it to him monthly; rather, it is deducted from his pension.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes.

The questioner : ... But you do not have to be employed; they may allow you to sell a part of your salary. This part differs if you are young compared to if you are old. If you are young, the dinar is worth ten, and if you are much older, for example, the dinar is worth eight. And the older you get, the less the dinar is worth to you. This dinar, which is... one hundred dinars, remains deducted from the salary until you die. When you die, this one hundred is returned to your children. What is the Sharia ruling on this?

The Shaykh : Okay, brother, let me set aside for now the fact that if you are young it is less, and if you are older it is more. Your question is about selling this pension.

The questioner : Yes, a part of it.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is related to the issue of the ratio you are mentioning.

The questioner : If you are young, the value of the dinar is high, meaning the dinar is, for example, one hundred. And if you are older, it decreases because they expect you to live, for example, ten years. So if you are seventy years old, they might expect you to live, for example, five years. Yes.

Another questioner : Shaykh, usually the sale of the pension happens in the army. So, for example, he is eager to receive it at the end of every month, but he sells a percentage of the pension, of the dinar or whatever it is, out of a desire to obtain liquidity. Therefore, for example, if he is young, it differs from if he is old, because after the death of this person, the pension returns to.

The Shaykh : The heirs.

Another questioner : The heirs. But during his lifetime, he does not receive, for example, the one hundred dinars deducted from his pension. If we assume he had four hundred, it becomes three hundred, and so on.

The Shaykh : I am not clear on this, but the answer regarding the pension is that it is not permissible. This does not require a pause for thought, because he will sell it for less. This is of the nature of selling a debt, like the deduction of checks, which they call bills of exchange. But the issue of age, this ratio, is related to the issue of the sale.

The questioner : But in the value.

The Shaykh : It has no relation, then. It has no relation, then. That is it.
Al-Halabi : It is what shaped the inquiry.

The Shaykh : This is it, brother. So selling the salary, this pension, is like the case of someone who, after a certificate, is obligated to pay. He has to deliver it, he has to receive it before the heirs, and he also receives it at a lower price. This is selling a debt for a debt. It came in some hadiths, and if there is weakness in them, meaning that selling a debt is not permissible. And this is selling a debt, whether it is... as you mentioned, the ratio differs for the young or the old, or it is equal. It should not be done at all; this sale is not permissible.