Book of Sales
Chapter: Currency Exchange (Ṣarf)

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. May Allah send blessings and peace upon our master Muḥammad, his family, and his Companions, abundantly.

Chapter on Currency Exchange

Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden usury” (2:275); and He says: “Do not consume usury” (3:130).

The scholars, early and later alike, are unanimously agreed that the riba (usury) which the Qur’an prohibited refers to the creditor’s taking, after the debt has fallen due, some additional amount—whether cash or goods—in return for granting a delay in payment. This is the very sense of the Arab saying, “Either you pay, or you increase.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Gold for gold is usury unless it is exchanged hand to hand; silver for silver is usury unless it is exchanged hand to hand; and gold for silver is usury unless it is exchanged hand to hand.”