What is the Ruling on the Exchange of Different Currencies?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
My father exchanged money, but it was not simultaneous. So, the transaction was haram. But what about the money? My father has exchanged 10,000 SEK for a different currency. So will the whole 10,000 SEK of my father be haram? If so, how can we make it halal?
If I tell my father to return the money to the other party, he will not listen.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
It is permissible to exchange currencies of different countries even with excess on one side, such as in your case, 10,000 SEK was exchanged with another currency. The reason is that the genus (jins) of both currencies is different, and when exchanging items of varied nature, it is permitted to have excess on one side.
Ubada ibn al-Samit (Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “Gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat, barley for barley, dates for dates, salt for salt, like for like, same for same, hand to hand. If the types are different, sell however you like, so long as it is hand to hand.” [Muslim; Taqi Usmani, Buhuth fi Qadaya Fiqhiyya Mu’asira; Fiqh al-Buyu]
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I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey.
He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His personal interest is the love of books and gardening.
