Fathwa - Criteria of currency exchange online

Question
Assalam-u-Alaikum! I am doing Online E-currency Money Exchange
Businessand Brokery. Online E-currency exchange including these online
accounts or payment processor: Liberty Reserve, Payza & Paypal etc.
Liberty Reserve is an online e-currency account or payment processor
where we can send and receive money only but cannot deposit money
directly to our Liberty Reserve Account &cannot cashout directly from
Liberty Reserve Account to our bank account or credit or debitcard
instead we can contact any online international exchanger for cashout
money recommended by Liberty Reserve or a local exchanger living in
our country. Its mean, in bothcases, cashout and deposit money, we
must have to contact any exchanger whether it is international
exchanger or local exchanger of our country or any individual, and
both international and national exchanger will take some fees in order
to cashout or deposit your money to your BankAccount, Card or Western
Union etc as per request. This is Liberty Reserve Terms of Service.
Now, this is what I do: 1) For example: Dollar ($) rate inPakistan,
today is 100RS. Someone want to deposit$100 in his liberty
reserveaccount or want to purchase $100 of liberty reserve, he contact
me to buy and I have a local exchanger of liberty reserve, which sell
me 1 Dollar($) per 103RS ($ today is 100RS but he selling in 103RS by
making 3RS his profit, by considering all of his feesand taxes as he
deposit by some exchanger to hisliberty reserve account). Now, I
purchase $100 in 103 RS rate and sell to another party $100 in 106RS
rate, by making 3RS profit per Dollar($). Now, tell me is it profit
permissible for me? Can I continue my this exchange business? And
Ihave party, which can sellme daily $100 in 95RS and I can sell to
another party in 100RS by makingmy profit. So, Can I continue this?
Both parties seller and buyer know the current rates oftoday of
Dollar($). I am hardly waiting for my answer... Jazakallah
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His Slave and Messenger.
If the transaction of exchanging currencies and selling them for
eachother whether between you and the company or individuals adhered
to the Islamic guidelines, then there is no blame onyou regarding that
transaction and the profits you get from it. The most important of
such guidelines is that the exchange should takeplace in the same
meeting of concluding the contract hand-to-hand, physically or in a
non-physical way, and amongst its non-physical forms is what was
stated in the statement of the Islamic Fiqh Council:
"Among the non-physical forms of receiving the value that are
permissible are the following:
1- Transferring money into the agent's account in the following ways:
a. When it is deposited into the agent's account, directly or via wire transfer.
b. When the agent makesan immediate currency exchange contract with
the bank in case of buying one currency for another on behalf of the
agent.
c. When the bank – on the instructions of the agent – deducts a sum
ofmoney from another account in a different currency, whether it is in
the same bank or another bank, to the benefit of the agent or another
beneficiary. The banks should pay attention to ensuring that they act
in accordance with the principles of Islamic exchange. The delay in
transferring the money before the beneficiary is actually able to take
possession of it may be overlooked for the usual amount of time that
such transfers take in the banking system, but it is not permissible
for the beneficiary to dispose of the currency during this grace
period, until the bank transaction takes effect in the sense that it
becomes possible to actually receive that sum of money. [End quote]
Also, it is stipulated whenselling currency for the same currency to
be of equal amounts along with what we have stated that the exchange
must take place in the same meeting (i.e. being hand to hand).
However, if the currencies are different such as selling aDollar for
Rupee, then it is only stipulated that theexchange must take place in
the same meeting, and not be of equal amounts. Accordingly, there is
no blame on the company if it sells 1 Dollar for 103 Rupees rate, and
there is no blame on you if you sell 1 Dollar for 106 Rupees rate or
more, even if that is greater than its value in the market because the
most important thing is that the exchange takes place in the same
meeting if currencies are different. We have pointed out the
guidelines of dealing in currency exchange online in Fatwa 88034,
soplease refer to it.
Allaah Knows best.