Ruling on Deferring Part of a Currency Exchange (Sarf)حكم تأخير جزء من عوض الصرف (بيع النقد بالنقد)

Questioner: Two people agreed on an exchange of 500 riyals; one gave the other 400 and said, "Come back later and I'll give you the remaining hundred" — is this a case of ordinary sale, or of forbidden deferred currency exchange (sarf)?

If this is an ordinary sale — for instance, you purchased something from a shop for 500 riyals, and the seller gave you 400 [in change] and said, "I don't have the full amount right now, come back later and I'll give you the rest" — there is no problem with this at all. But if this is a currency exchange — that is, an exchange of one currency, or cash, for another — then no part of it may be deferred; one may not exchange 500 riyals and have the other party give 400 now while saying "the rest later," because a currency exchange must be hand to hand, like for like, equal for equal.

If a person finds himself in such a situation within a currency exchange, the way out is to take only the 400 that was given, hold on to his own 500, and then hand over the remainder afterward — effectively restructuring the transaction as a sale rather than a currency exchange. But as a currency exchange proper, this is not permissible, since it must be hand to hand, equal for equal.

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