Question Summary:
Interest or not

Question Detail:

A message from a friend said: I am looking for £600 cash and in return will give £650 worth of the vouchers. Thats £50 extra. There are many retailers that accept these vouchers so if interested pls get in touch with me. My question is will it be permissible for me to buy the vouchers or will it involve interest. Either way can you please give a detailed explanation. JzkAllah

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
In the aforementioned question, it will be permitted to sell vouchers valuing 650 euros in lieu of 600 euros. In Islam, it is only permissible to exchange cash in lieu of cash from the same currency, if the amount on either side is equal to one another. In the scenario at hand, cash (600 euros) is being given in lieu of vouchers which merely value 650 euros.
 
Cash can generally be traded for any type of exchange, whether it is in the form of wealth, services, etc. The vouchers, however, may only be used to purchase fares from the flight agency. Therefore, the vouchers will not be treated as cash. Rather, this transaction will be treated as if 600 euros are being given in exchange of commodity valuing 650 euros, which is undoubtedly permissible.
 
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Zakariya Memon
Student Darul Iftaa
Chatham, Canada 
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
Daruliftaa.net