Inah dan tawarruq

Oleh WAN JEMIZAN W. DERAMAN

PADA minggu lepas, telah dibincangkan tentang Bai' Inah dan pandangan-pandangan ulama
tentang keharusannya. Kontrak Bai' Inah yang agak kontroversi menyebabkan kebanyakan
institusi perbankan Islam mula berpindah kepada kontrak alternatif yang dapat dipersetujui
oleh para ulama tempatan dan antarabangsa.
Di sinilah titik tolak sebuah kontrak yang bernama tawarruq mula dikenali di Malaysia.
Walaupun tawarruq juga mempunyai tujuan yang sama dengan Bai' Inah, tetapi barang yang
dijual dalam kontrak tawarruq tidak kembali kepada pemilik asal. Sebaliknya, ia akan
berpindah kepada pihak ketiga.
Dari sudut bahasa, tawarruq berasal daripada perkataan al-wariq yang bermaksud wang
perak, dirham atau logam. Ia dinamakan tawarruq disebabkan mereka yang terlibat dalam
transaksi ini ingin memperolehi wang secara tunai, bukannya untuk memanfaatkan barangan
yang dibeli.
Daripada satu sudut, ia dilihat sebagai sebuah instrumen yang menjadi medium mendapatkan
wang tunai secara jual dan beli bukannya hutang.
Tawarruq adalah satu kontrak yang pernah dibincangkan oleh ulama silam khususnya
mazhab Hanbali.
Tawarruq berlaku apabila seseorang membeli barang secara hutang dan menjualnya kepada
pihak lain secara tunai.
Terdapat dua pandangan ulama tentang hukum tawarruq. Pertama, tawarruq adalah harus.
Pandangan ini dikemukakan oleh Iyas bin Mu'awiyah serta salah satu riwayat dari Imam
Ahmad.
Ia juga dikuatkan oleh Sheikh 'Abdurrahman bin Nashir As-Sa'dy dan Syaikh 'Abdul Aziz bin
Baz sebagaimana dalam Taudhihul Ahkam (4/398), Syaikh Sholih Al-'Utsaimin dalam AsySyarh Al-Mumti' (8/232) dan Al-Mudayanah, Syaikh Sholih Al-Fauzan dalam Al-Farq Bainal
Bai'i war Riba fii Asy-Syari'atul Islamiyah dan dalam Al-Muntaqo dan keputusan Majlis Majma'
Al-Fiqh Al-Islamy sebagaimana dalam Taudhihul Ahkam (4/399-400).
Pandangan kedua adalah haram. Ini adalah riwayat kedua daripada Imam Ahmad dan
pendapat Umar bin Abdul Aziz serta dikuatkan oleh Syaikhul Islam Ibnu Taimiyah, Ibnul
Qayyim dan fatwa Al-Lajnah Ad-Da'imah Saudi Arabia.

TAWARRUQ
Tawarruq is a transaction where one party buys some goods on credit at a markedup price and sells the same at a lesser value for the purpose of getting cash (i.e.
the spot value of the goods). The purpose of this transaction is not the possession
of the goods, but the obtainment of liquidity.
The parties to a tawarruq transaction are the seller or creditor ("musawwariq") and
the purchaser ("mutawarriq" or "mustawriq").
Tawarruq contracts developed as a means of getting ready cash (and on the part of
the party providing the cash, of granting financial assistance and being
compensated for it) whilst circumventing the prohibition against the payment and
charging of interest.
An illustration of the basic tawarruq process:

Nowadays, it is commonly used by Islamic banks as a mode of financing (for

example, for personal financing) as well as an important tool for liquidity
management (for example, by means of short-term placement mechanism
involving the sale and purchase of commodities on the international commodities
market i.e. commodity murabaha).
An example of the current utilisation of tawarruq is as offered by HSBC Amanah's
Personal Finance, where the customer buys metals from the bank at a pre-agreed
profit margin (which sum is payable in instalments), and then sells the metals on
the customer's behalf to an international broker (wthe proceeds of which sale is
transferred into the customer's account.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad also utilises tawarruq in its Muamalat Cash-Line
Facility-i, which is offered for working capital purposes.
The basic form of tawarruq is considered permissible by all four schools of Islamic
thought.
Types of Tawarruq:

"Classical tawarruq" or "real tawarruq" is the traditional method of tawarruq

whereby the financier sells the goods to the mutawarriq, who then disposes of the
goods in the open market.
"Organised tawarruq" or "managed tawarruq" is the term bestowed on the type of
tawarruq practised by Islamic banks today, i.e. where the financier manages the
tawarruq process. One example is when the financier sells the goods to the
mutawarriq, financier or its nominee is then appointed the mutawarriq's agent to
on-sell the goods on his behalf on the open market.
"Reverse tawarruq" is similar to organised tawarruq but where the bank is the
mutawarriq/customer seeking liquidity.
The Difference Between Tawaruq and Bai Inah:
Bai Inah is a mode of financing wherein the financier sells goods to the customer on
credit terms, with a mark up of the price, and subsequently purchases the same
goods from the customer at the spot price.
Although Bai Inah is accepted in Malaysia, it has not been accepted as a shariahcompliant financing instrument in the Middle East as it is considered a legal fiction,
in that there is a buy-back of the goods on the part of seller; therefore the sale and
purchase transaction is merely to create a debt obligation which is no different
from, or tends to lead to, usury[1].
Usury is not permitted in Islamic transactions, pursuant to the oft-quoted Quranic
source, Al-Baqarah:275 "Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as
one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say,
"Trade is [just] like interest." But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden
interest. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may
have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah. But whoever returns to [dealing in
interest or usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally
therein."
Tawarruq is distinguished from Bai Inah in that there is no buy-back; rather, the
mutawarriq is free to dispose goods to any other party on the open market.
Therefore, it is seen as a true sale and therefore permissible.

Tawarruq Now:
As previously stated, tawarruq is, among others, an important tool for Islamic
banks to manage their liquidity requirements. It is also seen as a shariah-compliant
alternative to Bai Inah.
However, the Fiqh Academy of the Organisation of Islamic Conference ("OIC Fiqh
Academy"), has, by its Resolution No. 179 (19/5) at its 19th Session held on 26-30
April 2009, held that although classical tawarruq is permissible (so long as it
complies with the requirements of sale transactions), organised tawarruq and
reverse tawarruq are not permissible.
Even so, in the absence of a more suitable mode of transaction, tawarruq continues
to be utilised by Islamic banks. Indeed, some scholars have even argued for the
continued use of tawarruq, albeit with some changes so as to strengthen the
structure so as to avoid those practices which violate the shariah.
[1]

Out of the four Islamic juristic schools, only the Shafii school accepts the validity of Bai
Inah as it looks to the form of the transaction, i.e. the existence of two valid sale
transactions, rather than the intention behind it. Bank Negara Malaysia's Shariah Advisory
Council has resolved in its meeting held 12 December 1998 that notwithstanding the
objections to Bai Inah by the majority of shariah scholars, Bai Inah is acceptable subject to
certain conditions, i.e. that the mechanism practiced is as that accepted by the Shafii
school, and the transacted item is not a ribawi item (goods subject to Fiqh rules on riba in
sales, meaning monetary units and items sold by weight and/or measure).