Question Summary:
Cashing of cheques on condition of buying goods from the shop.

Question Detail:

I run a shop with a partner where our main business is cashing of cheques. People come  to us with their wages which have been paid by cheque and due to it taking quite long in a bank decide to cash it in shops such as ours. It is agreed and known by the people that a certain percentage from the amount is to be used to buy goods from the shop. The percentage is negotiated and varies with each person. Once this has been done the customer takes the cash and may come later to collect the goods he has bought.
Please also note that the shops capital does not usually exceed K100,000. This means that sometimes if a the sum of money is very large the shop is unable to cash it due to lack of funds. So I decided to on my own cash the cheque by myself with my own money. The problem arises that I am unable to sell goods to the customer since I am now not actually working as the shop. So can I just tell the person that for the percentage of the cheque, instead of selling goods as the normal case, I will sell you this pen for that percentage. Is doing this allowed?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In principle, the bearer of the cheque, whether cash or postdated is a creditor. The issuer of the cheque is a debtor who has transferred his debt to the bank in the form of a cheque. A transferal of a debt is termed as hawala and is permissible with the consent of all the parties involved. In the enquired situation, employees receive pay cheques from their employers. Accordingly, the employer is a debtor and the employees are creditors. The employer has transferred the debt to the bank with the consent and agreement of the employees. If the employees wish to cash the cheque by private persons besides the bank, this will be another transferal of the debt.
In a transferal of a debt the exact amount oweable has to be transferred. It is not permissible for the cashier of the cheque to derive any benefit from the cashing of the cheques whether by paying a lessor amount to the bearer in which case the cashier will benefit from the surplus amount. For example the cheque is k1000 and it is cashed for k950. The cashier will benefit k50 when cashing the cheque. This is not permissible as it is deriving benefit from a loan which is interest and is prohibited.[1]
Similarly, it is not permissible for a cashier of the cheque to put a condition on the bearer of the cheque to purchase items at his store as cashing the cheque is a loan and putting a condition on the bearer to purchase from his shop is deriving benefit from the loan.[2]
Accordingly, the issue of the pen as a strategy will also not be permissible because the cashier accepts to cash the cheque on condition that bearer buys the pen for him for a certain amount. If he cashes it directly or through the pen strategy, both will be conditions on the loan.
However, if the bearers (employees) purchase items on their own, without any obligations on them then this will be permissible.
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mawlana Mohammed Patel,
Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.