Dealings in Commercial Papers

The basis for the permissibility of dealing in a bill of exchange is that it is in the meaning of Hawalah or Qard (loan) contract, which are agreed upon by Ijma’ (consensus of Fuqaha), or in the meaning of Suftajah (demand note), which is valid according to the preponderant opinion. The evidence for this is the report from a number of Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) who dealt in these instruments. It is reported from Abdullah Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to take silver from traders at Mecca and write down a demand note for them to be paid at Kufa. It is related from Abdullah Ibn Al-Zubayr that he used to take dirhams from traders at Mecca and then write a note drawn upon his brother Mus’ab in Iraq. When Ibn Abbas was asked about this, he saw no harm in the transaction.(3) Al- Muwaffaq Ibn Qudamah,(4) may Allah confer mercy upon him, has related from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that he was asked about a similar transaction and he saw no harm in it. Further, in the Suftajah is the interest of both the lender and the borrower without harm being caused to either one of them. The lender is secure against the danger of the highway in transporting his dirhams to the destined town, while the borrower benefits from the loan and is also secure against the dangers of the highway being under an obligation to pay in the said town. The Shariah does not lay down a prohibition for interests that do no invoke harm. 

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