Sometimes a bank will offer a prize for the purpose of encouraging people to open an account with them, or to encourage clients to deposit more of their money with the bank. The winners for these prizes are selected by a draw.
2862. Bank prizes are of two types:
a. The bank is not obligated by a condition to hold a draw, rather the draw simply acts as an incentive. In this case it is permissible to hold a draw, and the person who wins the draw is permitted to take the prize, even though the more precautious measure in the case of banks which are owned by the government or a group of people, is that the individual should take the prize with permission from the hakim al-shar‘iyy.
b. The bank is obligated by a condition to hold a draw, and the bank holds the draw in order to honor the condition. In this case, it is not permissible to hold the draw, and similarly, it is not permissible for the person who won the draw to take the prize.

One of the services that a bank may provide to its clients is the realization of a bill of exchange in the following manner: prior to the due date, the bank informs the drawer of the presence of the bill at the bank, along with its number, amount and due date, so that the drawer may prepare the funds to honor the bill of exchange. Once the bank acquires the funds, it deposits the amount in the account of the drawee, or pays it to him in cash. It also charges a fee for rendering this service.
One of the other services offered by a bank is cashing the checks presented by its client to the bank. The bank may charge a fee for rendering this service.

2863. Processing bills of exchange and charging a fee for it can take certain forms:
1. The drawer has deposited money with the bank, and there is a condition within the bill of exchange that the payee should take the bill of exchange to the drawee bank on its due date, and the bank will withdraw the amount written in the bill of exchange from the drawer’s account and pay it in cash to the payee, or deposit it in his account.
This can be viewed as the process wherein the drawer refers his creditor to the bank, and since he has money deposited with the bank, and the bank is indebted to him, the transfer of liabilities is valid, and does not require an acceptance (from the bank).
In this case, it is not permissible for the bank to charge a fee for paying its debt.
2. The drawer transfers the liability of the amount mentioned in the bill of exchange to the bank, without having deposited an amount in the bank, or without the bank being indebted to him. This is a case of a transfer of liabilities to a debt-free person, one who is not indebted to the drawer, and is permissible.
The bank in turn accepts the transfer of liabilities and pays the amount. It also charges a fee to the drawer for accepting the transfer of liabilities, and acquiring this fee is permissible.
3. The payee presents the bill of exchange to the bank to claim the amount, without any transfer of liabilities by the drawer. This service can rendered as an instance of a service that is a subject of a ju‘¡lah, and to acquire a fee as a ju‘l (the item given in exchange for the service in a ju‘¡lah agreement) is permissible, given that the bank intervenes in acquiring the actual debt only. However, if it also determines a profit and a proportional interest for the debt, its intervention is not permissible.

2864. It is permissible to buy and sell foreign currencies, such as dollars and euros, for an amount that is more, less or equivalent to the amount for which it is purchased. It also makes no difference if the transaction is paid for immediately or at a later date.

2865. If a person has a chequing account with a bank, and has deposited an amount in that account, he reserves the right to withdraw any amount that he wishes from the account which does not exceed his balance.
However, sometimes a bank allows a client to withdraw a particular amount, without having a sufficient balance in his account, based on the trust that it has in the client. This is known as an overdraft. The bank in turn takes a profit for loaning that amount. However, such an act of loaning and acquiring of profits is not permissible.

The economic value of a commodity is determined by two factors:
1. The commodity offers a particular benefit, making it coveted by rational people, such as things which are edible, consumable or wearable.
2. A body that is vested with the authority, sets a value for the property, such as currencies and stamps which are valued by the government.

2866. Buying and selling is different from loaning, both in terms of the subject and also the precepts. In terms of the subject, buying and selling is the act of exchanging a corporeal property for another in its attribution, be it an attribution of ownership or proprietorship. Loaning is the act of giving ownership of a corporeal entity to the party that is acquiring the loan, in return for a substitute if the item is fungible, and for its value if it is not fungible.
In terms of their precepts, the following are some areas where they differ:
1. Interest in sales differs from interest in loans. In a loan, any additional amount that is stipulated is interest and forbidden. However, in a sale, it is only forbidden if the item that is sold and the item acquired in return are both of the same type, and they are sold by weight or volume. In this case, any extra amount is interest and it is forbidden. Hence, if they are not of the same type, or they are not sold by weight or volume, it is not forbidden to take an extra amount, such as the case in commodities which are sold by count.
2. If a sale involves interest, it will invalidate the sale, and an exchange of ownership will not be realized. However, in the case of a loan, stipulating interest will not invalidate the loan. The debtor will become the owner of the loaned item. However, the creditor will not become the owner of the stipulated excess.

2867. All paper money, such as Iraqi dinars, American dollars or Iranian tumans, have economic value, because their respective governments have set a value for their paper money, which is accepted and common in all countries. It is for this reason that it has economic value, and they may cancel its economic value and validity at any time.
It is obvious that such money is not sold by weight or volume, and hence some of the jurisprudents (may the Lord raise their status) have said, “It is permissible to exchange this money for more or less of the same kind. It is also permissible to give this money in cash for a debt being owed, for less than it or more than it.”
However, to exchange something that has an arbitrary economic value, and is purchased and sold by count, for something more or less of the same kind is problematic.
In the event that the owner of the greater amount reaches a compromise settlement with the owner of the lesser amount, in that the owner of the greater amount would gift it to him, and he too would gift the lesser amount to him, then it will not be problematic. For example, the owner of nine hundred dollars would state to the owner of a thousand dollars, “I compromise with you that you would gift a thousand dollars to me and in return I would gift nine hundred dollars to you.”

2868. Bills of exchange which are common amongst businessmen and people, and are used to carry out transactions, are not like currency notes which have an arbitrary economic value; rather, they are certificates of a loan that is liable on the payer and the signatory of the bill. Hence, when a buyer gives a bill of exchange to the seller, he has in fact not paid the price of the purchased commodity. Therefore, if the bill of exchange gets lost or burnt whilst it is in the possession of the seller, nothing will be lost of his property, and neither will the responsibility of the buyer be lifted. However, if he pays for the price of the commodity with paper money, and then the money gets lost, it will be deducted from the property of the seller and he will incur the loss.

2869. Bills of exchange are of two kinds:
1. A bill of exchange which is reflective of a real loan, meaning that the signatory in reality owes the amount mentioned in the bill to the payee, and the bill is a record of that loan.
2. A bill that is not reflective of a real loan; rather, it is only imaginary.
In the first kind, wherein the payee is in fact owed a time-specific loan, selling the bill for an amount that is more or less is not problematic, given that there is a difference (in the two), such as dollars for pounds, and given that it is not the price of a credit based transaction. However, if there is no difference, such as selling dollars for dollars, then it is problematic. However, if the transaction is carried out in the form of a compromise settlement as elaborated in article 2867, it will not be problematic.
In the second type, where the bill is imaginary, the payee cannot sell it to another person, since he is not owed anything by the signatory of the bill; rather, the bill of exchange was issued so that the payee would be able to make use of it. The manner of using it according to the shari’a is in the following manner: The payer deputizes the payee to sell the amount mentioned in the bill—such as 50 Saudi riyals which are worth 11,000 Iranian tumans—on his behalf to the bank for another kind of currency for a lesser value, such as 10,000 tumans, and also deputizes him to then sell the 10,000 tumans on the behalf of the payer to himself for the price of 50 Saudi riyals.
In this manner, the payee becomes indebted to the payer in the amount that the payer has become indebted to the bank, which is 50 riyals.
Another manner would be a case where the bank loans the amount of the bill to the payee, and in return the payee pays an amount to the bank as documentation fees, without it being stipulated by the bank. However, if it is stipulated as a condition, even if it be non-explicitly understood, it will be considered an interest-based loan.
There is no problem for the payer to demand the amount of the bill from the payee, and acquire it from him, because the payee has transferred his debt to the bank in its entire amount from the bank to the payer.

Working in a bank can involve two types of work:
1. Work that is related to interest-based transactions. It is not permissible to work in such positions. A person who is employed in such a position cannot take any wages for the work.
2. Work that is not related to interest-based transactions. It is permissible to work in such positions and also to take wages for the work.

An insurance is a contractual agreement between the insurer and the insured person in that the insured person will pay an amount to the insurer, regardless of whether the amount paid is a corporeal property, a benefit or a service, and regardless of whether it is paid altogether or in installments, and in return the insurer will pay for the losses that are incurred by the insured person or a third party in the manner that is defined in the contractual agreement.

2870. Insurances are of various types and kinds, such as life insurance, health insurance and property insurance. Since their precepts are the same, there is no need to elaborate upon them.

2871. An insurance is a contract, and is therefore realized upon an offer and an acceptance. For example, the insurer may state, “I undertake the liability of paying for a particular loss of life or property in return for receiving a particular amount,” and the one wishing to be insured responds by stating, “I accept,” or for example, the individual wishing to insure himself states, “I undertake to pay a particular amount in return for coverage on a particular loss,” and the insurer accepts.
This contract, like all other contracts, can be materialized by words or actions. All the other general conditions of contracts are consequential in this contract, such as being b¡ligh and sane, having the intention and not being compelled nor interdicted, be it due to having a feeble mind or due to bankruptcy.
It is also consequential that the insured item, such as life or property, and the potential dangers for which the life or property is being insured against should be specified. Similarly, the payment should also be specified, and if it is paid in installments, the monthly or yearly installments should be specified. The start and end dates of the insurance policy should also be specified.

2872. All forms of insurance policies can be considered as an undertaking by the insurance provider to cover the losses and the insured individual to pay a particular sum (for the insurance). The more precautionary measure is that the insured individual settles the particular amount with the insurance provider with the condition that the insurance provider covers any potential losses. In this case it becomes obligatory upon the insurance provider to cover the losses.
Similarly in the event that the payment by the insured individual is in the form of a corporeal item, he may consider the insurance policy as a gift with the condition that the insurance provider covers any potential losses. In this case it will be obligatory upon the insurance provider to fulfill the condition.

2873. In the event that the insurance policy takes the form of a settlement compromise with the condition of bearing the losses, or a gift with the same condition, and the insurance provider fails to indemnify the insured individual in the event of a loss suffered by him, and hence fails to act upon the condition, the insured individual may employ the option of a breached contract and cancel the settlement compromise or the gift. He may then reclaim the installments that have already been paid.

2874. In the event that the insured party fails to pay the insurance installments according to the agreement, it will not be obligatory upon the insurance provider to cover any losses. In addition the insured party does not reserve the right to reclaim the insurance installments that have already been paid.

2875. A particular duration, such as one year or two years, is not consequential in the validity of an insurance policy, rather, it will be subject to the agreement between the two parties.

2876. If a company is formed by an investment from a number of individuals, and each of the partners or one of them stipulates to the other partners within the partnership agreement that should he incur a loss of life or property owing to an incident, the type of which is specified within the agreement, the company will have to indemnify the individual from its future profits for the losses suffered in the incident. In the event of an incident, it will be obligatory for the company to act according to the condition for as long as the partnership contract is valid.

One of the common transactions is the payment of key money. The right of key money is that the lessee reserves the right to clear and sublease the leased item itself to another party, or that the owner does not have the right to increase the rent or to take the rented item itself from the lessee.