Silver for gold is Riba (usury) unless exchanged on the spot; wheat for wheat is Riba unless exchanged on the spot; barley for barley is Riba unless exchanged on the spot; and dates for dates is Riba unless exchanged on the spot
Chapter: Exchange and Selling Gold for Silver on the spot
Authentic
hadith of Sahih Muslim
Muttafaq ‘alayh (Bukhari and Muslim)Sahih Muslim 1586a
Mālik ibn Aws ibn al-Hadathān reported: I came saying: Who will exchange the dirhams? Talhah ibn ‘Ubaydullāh, who was in the company of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with both of them), said: Show us your gold, then come to us when our servant comes to give you your silver. Thereupon, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb said: No, by Allah, you must either give him his silver or give him back his gold, as the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Silver for gold is Riba (usury) unless exchanged on the spot; wheat for wheat is Riba unless exchanged on the spot; barley for barley is Riba unless exchanged on the spot; and dates for dates is Riba unless exchanged on the spot."
Reported by Muslim (No. 1586a, 1586b), Al-Bukhari (No. 2134, 2170, 2174), Abu Dawud (No. 3348), At-Tirmidhi (No. 1243), An-Nasa’i (No. 4558), Ibn Majah (No. 2253, 2259, 2260), Malik (No. 1330) and Ahmad (No. 157, 231, 297).
Mālik ibn Aws, the Tābi‘i, informs that he had gold dinars that he wanted to exchange with silver dirhams. Talhah ibn ‘Ubaydullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: Give us your dinars to see them. Then, after deciding to buy them, he said to him: Come later when our servant comes to give you the silver dirhams. This situation took place in the presence of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him), who expressed his disapproval of such a transaction and swore that Talhah should either pay the silver now or give him back his gold that he took from him. He justified this by saying that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned that when selling silver for gold or vice versa, the exchange should be made immediately; otherwise, this will be a prohibited Riba-based transaction and an invalid sale. Thus, gold should not be sold for silver, and silver should not be sold for gold except hand to hand and with the exchange made on the spot. Moreover, wheat should not be sold for wheat, barley should not be sold for barley, and dates should not be sold for dates except like for like, weight for weight, measure for measure, hand to hand, and nothing thereof should be sold immediately for deferred payment, and it is impermissible for the two parties to depart before the exchange is made.
Lessons
The types mentioned in this Hadīth are five: gold, silver, wheat, barley, and dates. If the sale involves items of the same type, then two conditions must be fulfilled to make it valid: the exchange should be made during the contract session, and they should be of the same weight, like gold for gold, or else it is Riba al-Fadl (usury of surplus). On the other hand, if the sale involves items of different types, like silver for wheat, then one condition must be fulfilled to make the contract valid, namely receiving the price during the contract session; otherwise, it is Riba an-Nasī’ah (usury of deferred payment).
The contract session refers to the place where the sale is conducted, whether the two parties are sitting, walking, or riding, and departing refers to what is customarily known among people as a way of ending a meeting.
The prohibition in this Hadīth includes all the types of gold, coined or not, and all the types of silver, coined or not.
What is required when selling gold for silver should be applied to the coins of this current time, i.e., if one wants to exchange one coin for another, like exchanging one riyal for one dirham, the surplus is permissible if both parties agree; however, the exchange should be made during the sale transaction or the transaction will be invalid and it will be deemed as a prohibited Riba-based transaction.
Riba-based transactions are impermissible, and the contract is invalid even if the two parties agree because Islam protects man's rights and the rights of society even if he waives them.
Forbidding and preventing evil for whoever has the ability to do so.
Mentioning the evidence when forbidding evil as what ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) did.
Explanation in Arabic
يُخْبِرُ التَّابِعِيُّ مالكُ بنُ أوس أنه كان عنده دَنانير ذهب، ويريد أنْ يَصْرِفَها بدراهم فضة، فقال له طلحةُ بن عبيد الله رضي الله عنه: أعطنا دنانيرَك لأَراها! ثم قال له بعد أن عَزَم على الشراء: ائتنا إذا جاء خادمُنا فيما بعد لنعطيَك دراهمَ الفضة، وكان عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه حاضرًا في المجلس، فأنكر هذا النوع من المعاملة، وأقسم على طلحة أن يدفع الفضة الآن، أو يَردَّ إليه ذَهبَه الذي أخذه منه، وبيَّن سبب ذلك أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ذَكَرَ أنَّ بَيعَ الفضة بالذهب أو العكس يجب أنْ يَقبِضَ المقابل مباشرة، وإلّا تكون تلك الصفقة ربًا محرّمًا، وبيعًا باطلًا، فلا يباع الذهب بالفضة ولا الفضة بالذهب إلا يدًا بيدٍ ويتم التقابض، ولا يباع البُر بالبر والقمحُ بالقمحِ والشعيرُ بالشعيرِ والتمر بالتمرِ إلا مثلًا بمثلٍ وزنًا بوزنٍ، كيلًا بكيل، يدًا بيد، ولا يباع شيء منها عاجلٌ بآجل، ولا يجوز التفرُّق قبل القبض.
الأصناف التي ذُكِرَتْ في هذا الحديث خمسة: الذهب والفضة والبر الشعير والتمر، فإذا حَصَل البيعُ في نفس الصنف فلابد من شرطين لصحته: التقابض في مجلس العقد، والتَّمَاثُل في الوزن كذَهَبٍ بِذَهَبٍ، وإلّا يكون ربا الفضل، وإذا اختلفت كفضة بقمح مثلًا فشَرْطٌ واحِدٌ لِصحّة العقد، وهو قَبْضُ الثَّمَن في مجلس العقد، وإلا يكون ربا النسيئة.
يراد بمجلس العقد: مكان التَّبَايُع، سواء أكانا جالسَين، أم ماضِيَين، أم راكبين، ويراد بالتفرُّق ما يُعَد تَفَرُّقًا عُرْفًا بين الناس.
النهي في الحديث يشمل جميع أنواع الذهب المَضْرُوبة وغيرها، وجميع أنواع الفضة مضروبة وغير مضروبة.
العملات النَّقْدِية في هذا الزمن يجب فيها ما يجب في بيع الذهب بالفضة، أي أنه إذا أردت استبدال عملة بعملة أخرى كريال بدرهم فيجوز التفاضل بما يرضاه الطرفان، ولكن يجب التقابض في مجلس البيع، وإلا بَطَلَت الصَّفْقة، وأصبح التعامُل رِبَوِيًّا مُحرّمًا.
التعاملات الرِّبوية لا تجوز، وعقدُها باطل ولو تراضا الطرفان؛ لأن الإسلام يحفظ للإنسان وللمجتمع حقَّه ولو تنازل هو عنه.
النهي عن المنكر ومنعه لمن استطاع ذلك.
ذكر الدليل عند إنكار المنكر، كما كان من عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه.
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Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the sale of silver for silver and gold for gold except for equal quantities, and commanded us to buy silver with gold as we desire, and to buy gold with silver as we…
