Cashing cheques through a financial services company in return for commission
Question: 147047
We have cut ties with all banks due to the fact that opening a bank account means you have accepted the presented terms which in most casses contain acceptance of riba or other haraam, and even kufr etc. we recieve income cheques each month but are not able to cash it because we dont have an account at the bank. There are stores which cash them for a certain percentage of commision and take some money for processing aswell. I need to know what is mentioned in the shariah regarding this matter or matters as such.
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.
Cashing a cheque through a financial services company in
return for a fee or commission may be done in several ways:
1.
Where the cheque is due, so the company cashes it through the
bank in return for a fee or commission. There is nothing wrong with this,
because it is a kind of fee or commission in return for work, which is going
back to the bank and collecting the money from it. The company is not
entitled to this commission and does not take possession of it unless it
actually gets the cash from the bank. But if it is stipulated that it will
take [the commission] before the cheque is cashed, that is not valid.
See: al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah, 15/218
2.
Where the company pays the amount stated on the cheque to the
bearer, minus its commission, then after that it collects the money from the
bank. This is not permissible, because it is exchanging money for money with
a difference in the amounts, or it is a loan of the amount stated on the
cheque to the customer in return for something extra, both of which are riba.
The way in which it is an exchange of different amounts is
that if the cheque is for one thousand, for example, and the company gives
him nine hundred, then he has exchanged one thousand for nine hundred, and
this is riba al-fadl.
The way in which it is a riba-based loan is if the company
gives the customer nine hundred, and the cheque at this moment is still in
the name of the customer and in his possession; then the company has loaned
him nine hundred on the basis that it will take back one thousand when it
cashes the cheque at the bank.
3.
Where the cheque is post dated, and the company gives the
money to the customer, then cashes the cheque with the bank on the date
written on it. This is also haraam, for the two reasons mentioned above.
See also the answer to question no.
114733.
To sum up: the permissible way of doing this is agreeing with
the company that it will cash the cheque and collect the money from the
bank, in return for a specific amount of money or percentage, which it is
entitled to when it finishes its work and collects the money from the bank.
And Allah knows best.
Source:
Islam Q&A
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