Buying Gold Coins And Taking Possession Thereof At A Later Time

Business Dealings, Transaction And Trade

Question

As far as gold is concerned, does the gold have to be paid for and received in one sitting?

The gold price fluctuates by the minute.

We have to book coins and pay for it in advance by one day, sometimes two. Is this legit?
That is we pay now and get delivery tomorrow, based on the current price. If the supplier has it in stock, they supply us from their own stock. If they don’t have, they order from the refinery. We pay them the price at the moment of our  transaction. They pay the refinery based on the price at the time of their transaction with the refinery.

Answer

In principle, if one is selling gold for gold or silver for silver, it is necessary that Qabdha (possession) takes place during the transaction from both parties and therefore, to sell it as credit will be impermissible.1 However, when one is buying gold in exchange for other currencies, such as dollars or Rands, it will be permissible to pay for the gold in advance and then receive the gold at a later stage with the following conditions:

i. Possession from one side must take place during the transaction. In our scenario, one must pay at the current moment in dollars or Rands in lieu of the gold that he will receive later on.

ii. The time of receival of the gold must be stipulated. 

Therefore, based on the above-mentioned, the method in which you are buying the gold is permissible.

Checked and Approved By:

Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.

References

فإن باع فضة بفضة أو ذهبا بذهب لم يجز إلا مثلا بمثل : أي متساوياً وزناً وإن اختلفا في الجودة والصياغة لما مر في الربا من أن الجودة إذا لاقت جنسها فيما يثبت فيه الربا لا قيمة لها ولابد ) لبقائه على الصحة من قبض العوضين قبل الافتراق بالأبدان، حتى لو ذهبا عن المجلس يمشيان معا في جهة واحدة أو ناما في المجلس أو أغمي عليهما لا يبطل الصرف.
هداية – اللباب في شرح الكتاب ج ۱ ص ۲۲۸ كتاب الصرف (ط: قديمي كتب خانه)

(وأما شرائطه) فمنها قبض البدلين قبل الافتراق كذا في البدائع … إلخ – (الفتاوى الهندية ) ج ۳ ص ۲۱۷ (كتاب الصرف) (ط: مكتبة رشيدية)

سئل الحانوتي عن بيع الذهب بالفلوس نسيئة. فأجاب بأنه يجوز إذا قبض أحد البدلين –
(رد المحتار) ج ۵ ص ۱۸۰ مطلب في استقراض الدراهم عددا) (ط: سعيد کمپني)

لو باع فضة بفلوس فإنه يشترط قبض أحد البدلين قبل الافتراق لا قبضهما –
(رد المحتار ج ۵ ص ٢٥٩ باب الصرف) (ط: سعيد كمپني)

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