Ruling on Financial and Commercial Transactions Over the Internet

প্রশ্ন · Question

Is it required when exchanging currencies to
receive it in person or is it sufficient to receive it online without hand ?
-I will add to the question: If he buys oil, is it necessary for him to
possess it and receive it, and if he sells it without possessing it ?
Knowing that if he buys oil, iron, gold or money, he cannot receive it
unless he converts it to dollars and receives it as dollars. So if you buy
oil, you cannot receive it as oil, but it is converted to dollars.
It was also stated in the book, Economic System that it is not
permissible to sell it to it at all, and this includes what he owns but has
not received, which requires possession for the completion of the sale,

which is measured, weighed, and counted .As for what does not
require possession for the completion of its ownership, which is not
measured, weighed, or counted, such as an animal, a house, land, and
the like, then it is permissible for the seller to sell it before receiving it.
The question is: How do I judge whether something is measured,
weighed, or counted or not ?He mentioned an example of something
that is not measured, such as an animal or a house, but an animal like a
sheep in our country when we buy it, we weigh it and it is sold
according to its weight, if it appears to be weighed .Likewise, a house is
called an apartment or two apartments, if it is counted, how do I
consider them not counted or weighed?

উত্তর · Answer

Wa Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatahu,
Regarding the subject of trading, we have previously answered a
question similar to yours, and I have excerpted from it what is related
to your question :
[As for the answer to the first question, which is online trading, it is as
follows :
1- Regarding oil, the question is not clear:
Do you want to fill your car at a gas station with an electronic card and
give it to the gas station official who will fill your car with gasoline ?If
that is the case, then it is permissible because if the withdrawal of the
price from your account is delayed for a day or two, then it is
permissible to buy this commodity on credit without interest, as you
received the commodity (gasoline for your car) and he took the price
immediately or after a day or two. If the reality is like this, then there is
nothing wrong with that.
However, if the intended purpose of trading is to buy a limited
quantity of oil and then sell it before receiving it, then this is not

permissible because receiving it is a condition for selling these
commodities. Abu Dawud narrated on the authority of Zaid bin Thabit
who said:
نْ تُبَاعَ السرلَعُ حَيْثُ تُبْتَاعُ حَن َّ يَحُوزَهَا التُّجَّارُ إِلََ رِحَالِهِمْ
َ
«
Allah's Messenger (ﷺforbade that commodities to be sold in the
place where they were bought, till the traders take them to their
dwellings". That is, these goods are not sold except after they are
possessed and received. So, taking possession is a condition for the
validity of their sale unless there is a specific text regarding a particular
good, then it is permissible and not others, and this is not mentioned
here… Accordingly, selling that quantity of oil without taking
possession of it is not permissible according to Islamic law .
But if you mean to be a partner in an oil well by paying money via an
electronic card over the Internet, then this is not permissible because
oil wells are public property and do not have private ownership.
But if you mean something else, then clarify it.
2- Trading in gold and silver:
As for gold and silver, selling and buying them for each other or for
cash must be done hand to hand, as in the hadith narrated by Al -
Bukhari and Abu Dawud on the authority of Omar :“Gold for silver is
usury except hand to hand,” meaning hand to hand. Therefore, buying
gold for silver or for cash is not valid except by hand to hand.
And because after we have learned how to trade online, the exchange
does not happen immediately, but rather it may take hours or days,
therefore it is not permissible to buy gold and silver with an electronic
card via the Internet unless the card is deducted from the account
immediately when buying gold or silver, i.e. hand to hand, so do not
receive the gold or silver except at the time the amount is deducted
from your account .And since there is no immediate exchange in
trading online, but rather after a day or two, then it is not permissible.

3-Trading in stocks and bonds is forbidden because stocks belong to
joint-stock companies that are invalid according to Islamic law, and
because bonds are linked to usury .We have detailed the subject of
joint-stock companies in the book, The Economic System, as well as in
The Turbulence of the Stock Markets other books .We have mentioned
in the booklet, The Turbulence of the Stock Markets, a summary of the
matter as follows:
“As for the Shari'ah rule pertaining to the dealing in these shares and
in securities, whether buying or selling, it is forbidden. This is because
these shares are those of a company that is unlawful according to
Shari'ah. They are in fact certificates of bills which contain mixed sums
from a lawful capital and unlawful profits made from an unlawful
transaction. Each bill represents the value of a share, and this share
represents part of the assets that belong to the unlawful company.
These assets have been mixed with an unlawful transaction which
Shari'ah has prohibited. Thus, it is illicit money, whose buying and
selling becomes unlawful, and dealing in such money is also illicit. This
is also the case for bonds, in which money is invested with interest,
and so is the case for bank shares and similar, since they all contain
sums of illicit money; thus their buying and selling is unlawful, because
the money contained in them is illicit.” END QUOTE.
4- Trading paper currencies on the Internet, such as the dollar and the
euro, is forbidden because there is no hand -to-hand exchange, which
is necessary in exchanging money. Hand -to-hand exchange, as it
applies to gold and silver, also applies to paper money on the grounds
of currency, i.e. using them as prices and wages. We mentioned the
following in the Answer to Question on 11/07/2004:
[Dealing with paper currencies
Yes, what applies to gold and silver in terms of usury and other
monetary rulings applies to them .This is because the realization of the

reason (cash, i.e. its use as prices and wages) in these papers makes
them take the rulings of money .
Therefore, buying usurious items with these papers applies to what
was mentioned in the hadith (hand to hand), i.e. it is not a debt .
The subject is as follows:
The Messenger ﷺ says:
« وَالْمِلْحُ
بِالْمِلْحِ، مِثْلًَ بِمِثْلٍ، سَوَاءً بِسَوَاءٍ، يَداً بِيَدٍ، فَإِذَا اخْتَلَفَتْ هَذِهِ الَْْصْنَافُ فَبِيعُوا كَيْفَ شِئْ تُمْ
إِذَا كَانَ يَداً بِيَدٍ
Gold is to be paid for by gold, silver by silver, wheat by wheat,
barley by barley, dates by dates, and salt by salt, like for like and
equal for equal, payment being made on the spot. If these classes
differ, sell as you wish if payment is made on the spot.” (Narrated by
Al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Ubadah bin Al -Samit, may
Allah be pleased with him.)
The text is clear when these usurious (riba) categories differ, that the
sale is as you wish, i.e. like for like is not a condition, but the exchange
is a condition .The word "categories" was mentioned generally in all
usurious categories, i.e. the six, and nothing is excluded from it except
by a text, and where there is no text, the ruling is that wheat is
permissible for barley or wheat for gold, or barley for silver, or dates
for salt, or dates for gold, or salt for silver... etc .No matter how
different the exchange values and prices are, but hand to hand, i.e. it is
not a debt. And what applies to gold and silver applies to paper money
by virtue of the common cause (cash, i.e. its use as a price and wages).]
End.
By studying how this online trading in buying and selling gold is done, it
became clear that the collection or settlement is delayed for a day or
two... from the date of the contract, and this is contrary to the agreed -
upon condition of exchange, which the Prophet ﷺ stipulated in his

saying: “Hand in hand.” Al -Bukhari narrated on the authority of Al -
Bara’ bin Azib, who said: We asked the Prophet ﷺ about that, and he
said:
«
“Take what was from hand to hand and leave what was on credit.”
Muslim narrated on the authority of Malik ibn Aws ibn al -Hadathan
that he said: I came and said: Who is exchanging dirhams? Talhah ibn
Ubaydullah said while he was with Umar ibn al -Khattab: Show us your
gold, then come to us when our servant comes and we will give you
your money. Umar ibn al -Khattab said: No, by Allah, you must either
give him his money or return his gold to him, for the Messenger of
Allah ﷺ said: «“Gold and silver are usury,
except for this and that...”
Accordingly, it is not permissible to trade the euro, dollar, and other
forms of currency over the Internet because there is no immediate
exchange)] End quote.
Regarding your question about measured, counted, and weighed
items, we have previously answered a similar question as follows :
Answer to Question on 12/02/2006, which stated:
[Counted, weighed and measured are according to the reality of the
sale of goods.
...Look at the market and see how this commodity is sold? Is it sold by
number, meaning is it called in the market each grain for so much or
each one for so much? Is it sold by weight, so is it called each kilo for
so much? Or is it called each meter for so much? Or each saa’ (type of
dry measurement) for so much ...?
If this is the case, the description of counted, weight or measure
applies to it, whether it is a description of one or more, meaning that
the commodity can be described as weighed and counted...

Examples: wheat, barley... by weight and measure.
Bananas, oranges... by weight and by number (in some countries it is
sold by number)...
...and determining its description when seizing these things is
important to eliminate ignorance. When someone tells me that I have
100 kilograms of wheat, it is not enough to determine the description.
Rather, the type of wheat must be specified so that the weight
eliminates ignorance, and so it is with the measured and counted.
But is the animal sold by number, so that it is called out saying each
camel for a thousand, or is it sold by the buyer seeing it and looking at
it and saying this camel is not worth a thousand and then choosing the
second camel? Is each camel like the other such that the sale is by
number?
Then, are the houses sold by number, weight, or volume? In other
words, does a man who has ten houses call out and say, “A house is for
a thousand,” or is any house bought by seeing it, and it is different
from the other...
Therefore, it is said that the animal and the house are not sold by
measure, weight or number .You may say that some people sell their
animals by weight, but this is not the case for every animal .He may sell
a certain sheep by weight, but he does not sell every sheep, nor does
he sell every animal, so he does not sell a cow by weight... as it is not
said to me, you have a hundred kilos of animals (of course, meaning
that they are alive).
Likewise, you may say that some people sell houses by the meter, but
this does not apply to every house .Rather, a meter in this house is ten,
and in that house it is twenty, and so on .So, the precise description of
it is not by measurement, so it is not said to me, you have a house of
one hundred meters...
And so....] End.

I hope this is sufficient, and Allah Knows Best and is Most Wise.
Your brother,
Abu Yasin
11 Rabi' al-Akhir 1446 AH
Corresponding to 14/10/2024 CE