What is the ruling on buying gold with immediate payment and delayed receipt, when its price is lower than at the time of purchase?
Selling gold for banknotes (even if it is jewelry) requires immediate possession of both बदलेन (countervalues) at the contract session without delay. If one of them is delayed, the contract becomes void, according to the majority of scholars, based on the Prophet's (PBUH) saying: "If it is hand-to-hand, there is no harm, but if it is deferred, it is not permissible," and "What is hand-to-hand, there is no harm in it, but what is deferred is usury." We were commanded to buy silver with gold as we wished, and to buy gold with silver as we wished. When the man was asked, "Hand-to-hand?" he replied, "This is what I heard." If the contract becomes void, the money must be returned, and the contract re-executed with immediate possession.
Others are of the opinion that usury does not apply to gold jewelry because its manufacturing has taken it out of the category of currency and made it a commodity, thus allowing its sale for immediate or deferred payment. According to this view, the contract is valid. They cite the words of Ibn al-Qayyim: "Permissible jewelry, through permissible manufacturing, has become akin to clothes and commodities, not currency. This is why Zakat is not obligatory on it, and therefore usury does not apply between it and currency, just as it does not apply between currency and other commodities."
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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