Currency Exchange

“I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a man who owed me a hundred dirham in numbers and he paid me by weight. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful if it is not stipulated . 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘Riba’ comes from stipulation; only stipulation destroys it.’”

“I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘A man had a certain amount of clear dirhams with me and in a meeting asked me about the rates of clear dirham on that day and I said, ‘It is so and so much today . 5 He asked if he had so and so much thousand clear dirhams with me and I said that he was right and he asked me to change them with dinars with such rate and keep them with me. I wish to have your word about it. He (the Imam) said to me, ‘If you checked the rate thoroughly for him on that day it is not unlawful . 5 I then said that I did not weigh or actually exchange them; it was only exchange of words between us. He (the Imam) asked, ‘Is it not the case that dirhams are with you as well as dinars ? 5 I replied, ‘Yes, that is right . 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful . 555

“I once asked abu al-Hassan, Musa (a.s.), about the case of a man who had with him a certain amount of dinars that belonged to a person of his associates for which he took wariq (dirham) from him for his needs; and the rate on that day was seven and seven and a half dirham for dinar. The owner of the asset asked for a certain amount of wariq (dirham) for his needs and it was not present and he bought them for him from a money changer with this rate or so then the rate changed before they finalized the account until the wariq (dirham) became twelve dirhams for one dinar; if he could settle it with him and it was with the rate as it was at the beginning when he took possession which was seven and seven and a half for a dinar. He (the Imam) said, ‘When he gave wariq (dirham) to him equal to the amount of dinars it is not harmful how the rates are and it is not harmful . 555

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who owed dinars. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful if he takes its price in the form of dirhams . 555

“I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a man to whom another man owed a certain amount of dinars and he assigned another man to collect it from him; if he could take it in the form of dirhams for the current rate. He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, if he wanted . 555

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who owed a certain amount of dirham and the party asked him to accept from him in the form of dinar at the current rate. He (the Imam) said It is not unlawful.”

“I once asked Abu Ibrahim (a.s.), about the case of a man who sold to me wariq (dirham) for dinar and I weighed it from him. I weighed it for him until it was complete and there was no other work between us, except that his wariq (dirham) had invalid and unreal pieces, and what was not permissible in them. He asked me to find and return such pieces. He (the Imam) said, It is not unlawful; however, you must not delay it more than one day or two, because it is an exchange. I then asked, ’What happens if I find extra in them equal to the amount of invalid ones ? He (the Imam) said, ‘This is a precautionary measure and I like it more.

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), if exchange of dirham for dirham and lead was permissible. He (the Imam) said, ‘Lead is not valid . 555

“I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about currency exchange, saying, ‘The comrades perhaps hurry and I go with them but cannot find al-Dimishqiyah (dirham) or al-Basriyah; they only allow only Sabur of al-Dimishqiyah and al-Basriyah. He (the Imam) asked, ‘What is a comrade? I replied, ‘A group of people get together to travel and when they hurry we may not find al-Dimishqiyah and al-Basriyah; then we send invalid dirham and they exchange it one thousand and fifteen for one thousand al-Dimishqiyah and al-Basriyah . He (the Imam) said, ‘There is nothing good in it. Why you do not place gold instead of the extra ? I then asked, ‘Can I buy one thousand dinar for two thousand dirhams? 5 He (the Imam) said, It is not unlawful. My father was more influential than me among the people of al-Madinah and he would say this. People would say it is running away. If a man comes with dinar he does not give it for a thousand dirham, and if he comes with one thousand dirham, he does not give one thousand dinar. He (the Imam) would say to them, ‘Yes, running away from unlawful matters to lawful ones is the best policy. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father and Muhammad ibn ‘Isma’il has narrated from al-Fadl ibn Shadhan from Safwan ibn Yahya and ibn Abu ‘Umayr from ‘Abd al-Rahman, a similar Hadith.

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir would say to my father, ‘O abu Ja‘far, Allah has granted you kindness, by Allah, we know, if you take a dinar and the rate is eighteen and you go around the whole of al-Madinah to find one who would give you twenty, you will not find and this is no more than running away. My father would say, ‘You are right, by Allah, however, it is running away from falsehood to the truth . 555

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who exchanged al-Kufiy (dirham) for al-Shamiy in equal weight, and the exchanger said, ‘I will not exchange it for you unless you exchange for me invalid Yusufiyah in equal weight . 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful . 5 We then said, ‘The exchanger asked for the extra of invalid al-Yusufiyah only . 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful . 555

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man with whom I had a certain amount of dinars; I asked him to change them to dirhams and keep them with himself. I did not take possession of any of them . 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful . 555

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who bought from another man with a dinar; half in the form of certain goods, and with the half in the form of dirham. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful . 5 I then asked, ‘Can he take half in the form of goods or dirham and leave the rest until he comes back and takes it in the form of dirham or goods ? 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘I do not like his leaving anything without taking it all at once . 555

“I once asked abu Ibrahim (a.s.), about the case of a man who came to me with dirham and I bought them from him with dinars; then I because of manner of weighing, cashing and the difference in between, I gave him dinars and said, ‘It is not a sale between us; I change what is between us in the form of sale. Your dirham with me is in the form of loan and my dinar with you is in the form of loan until you come tomorrow, then I sell . 5 He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful . 555

“About the case of buying al-Asrub with silver, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If al- Asrub is more prevalent then it is not unlawful . 555

“I once asked abu Ibrahim (a.s.), about the case of a man who owed me a certain amount of assets and paid me back a certain amount in dinars and others in dirhams. He came to finalize the account to pay me the difference because of the exchange in rate of dinar. Was it necessary to pay according to the rate in the day he paid me dinars or the day of accounting? He (the Imam) said, ‘He must pay you according to the rate of the day he gave you dinars because you counted the profit from that day . 555

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who came to me with dirham to sell them to me for the dirhams with me. He certainly did not want dinars but he wanted the dirham and he did not leave until he took my dirham. I bought from him dirham in exchange for dinars. His dinars were not with me in complete form so I borrowed from my neighbor and gave to him and perhaps I did not pay attention how much it weighed. He (the Imam) said, Is it, not the case that he takes it to offset what belongs to him?’ I replied, ‘Yes, that is true. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful/”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘My father purchased a piece of land and stipulated with the owner to pay him wariq (dirham) and dinar for ten dirham.”’

“I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘I go to the money changer with dirhams and buy from him dinars. He weighs for me more than my right. I then at the same place buy from him with it dirhams. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful but do not weigh less than your right.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who said to a jeweler, ‘Make for me this ring in exchange for one fresh dirham with one mixed dirham.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about buying gold in which there was silver, mercury and soil in exchange for dinars and wariq (dirham). He (the Imam) said, ‘You must not change except with wariq (dirham).’ I then asked him (the Imam) about buying silver in which there was lead and wariq (dirham). If it was pure it was reduced by two or three dirhams of each ten. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not valid except for gold.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a substance that was taken from the mine in which there were gold, silver and zinc. How could we buy it? He (the Imam) said, ‘You can buy it with both gold and silver.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about selling the sword decorated with cash (gold or silver). He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’ I then asked about selling on credit. He (the Imam) said, ‘If what is sold for cash is like what it is for its silver, then is not unlawful; or give foodstuff.’”

“I (jewelry maker) once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about what was swept from the soil (in his shop) and I sold it and what to do about it. He (the Imam) said, ‘Give it as charity; it is your thing or that of your family.’ I then said, ‘There is gold, silver and iron in it. How should I sell?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Sell it in exchange for foodstuff.’ I then asked, ‘Can I give it to my needy relatives?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, you can do so.’”

“Once he (the Imam) (a.s.), was asked about the decorated sword and sword of iron which was gilded and was sold for dirhams. He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, and it can be sold for gold also.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is Makruh (detestable) to sell it on credit.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘If the price is more than silver, it is not unlawful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about a bowl in which there were gold and silver; if I could buy it with gold or silver. He (the Imam) said, ‘If you can purify it, it is not lawful; but if you cannot purify, then it is lawful.’”

“I once said to him (the Imam) (a.s.), ‘We receive dirhams of different weight, then we buy them with al-Fulus,’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not lawful. Find the difference, then weigh copper and the difference then place it in good dirhams then take in equal weight.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of the substance of al-’Usrub which when purified had silver in it; if one could buy it for advance payment for a known amount of dirhams. He (the Imam) said, ‘If people know it as al-‘Usrub only then it is not unlawful.’”

“I once asked him (the Imam); ‘Alayhi al-Salam, about the case of decorated swords in which there was silver sold for gold for an appointed time. He (the Imam) said, ‘People do not differ that on credit; it is Riba ’ (unlawful additional payment). They differ about the deal of hand in hand.’ I then asked, ‘Can he buy it with dirhams in cash?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘My father would say, “I like it to be along with something.’” I then asked, ‘What happens if dirhams given are more than the silver in it?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘How can they maintain precaution in it?’ I said that they think they know it. He (the Imam) said, ‘If they know it then it is not unlawful, otherwise, if they include something else along with it, is more desirable to me.”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who owed me a certain amount of dirham and gave me a container of al-Kohl. He (the Imam) said, ‘Silver is for silver and al-Kohl in it is a debt on him until he returns it to you on the Day of Judgment.’”

“Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said that ’Amir al-Mu’minin has said, ‘One must not sell silver for gold unless it is in a hand in hand deal; and gold is not sold in exchange for silver unless it is in a hand in hand deal.’”

“I once asked him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a man who bought dirhams in exchange for dinars; then weighed them, cashed them and counted their prices to find the amount of dinar, then said to him to send his slave so he gave him dinars. He (the Imam) said, ‘I do not like his separation before taking dinars.’ I then said, ‘It is only in the same house and their places are close to each other and this becomes difficult for them.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘When he completes weighing and cashing he must instruct the slave that he wants to send, to become the seller and give the wariq (dirham) to him and receive dinars from him as he delivers to him the wariq (dirham).”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about selling gold in exchange for dirham. He (the Imam) said, ‘Send a messenger to receive the price saying, ‘Give that and take this.’”