Is it from the perspective of blocking the means to harm that exchanging metal riyals for paper riyals with a difference in value is prohibited?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : ... paper riyals ... .
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : Nine metal riyals are given for ten metal riyals, and he takes the excess; ten paper riyals are given for nine metal riyals.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : ... so that they do not fall into usury, because people do not understand this issue, meaning its weighing and such. They say, "This means, Shaykh, that you are permitting some of this..." This is what people understand, and some of them even say this is usury.
The Shaykh : By Allah, well, if this is prohibited and banks were prohibited before it, that is fine. But if this is prohibited and banks are allowed, that is something that causes great astonishment, yes?
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : Nine metal riyals are given for ten metal riyals, and he takes the excess; ten paper riyals are given for nine metal riyals.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : ... so that they do not fall into usury, because people do not understand this issue, meaning its weighing and such. They say, "This means, Shaykh, that you are permitting some of this..." This is what people understand, and some of them even say this is usury.
The Shaykh : By Allah, well, if this is prohibited and banks were prohibited before it, that is fine. But if this is prohibited and banks are allowed, that is something that causes great astonishment, yes?