Can one pay Interest?
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon
all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Assalam Alaikum
w.r.b.,
May Allah reward you
for the noble deed of spreading the Message of the Glorious Quran and the way
of life as recommended by Allah's Messenger [S.A.W.] As per my limited
understanding, it is 'haraam' to take interest/riba in Islam. Is it also
explicitly 'haraam'to give interest?
Following are some
of the activities:
Taking a Loan for
building a house/buying some property
Securing a
property as guarantee to finance a business
Opening Letter of
Credit and paying interest while conducting business
Credit Card
transactions etc..
Please elaborate
with respect to the current economic situations in the world.
Jazak Allah Kheir.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above
statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and
statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,
no person, no grave, no
prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Allah says further in
the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 278:O Believers!, fear Allah and give up that ‘riba’ which is
still due to you, if you are true
believers. But if you do not do so,
then you are warned of the declaration of war against you by Allah and His
Messenger!
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisa verse 161:That they took ‘riba’, although they were
forbidden. And that they devoured men’s
substance wrongfully. We have prepared
for those among them who reject faith a grievous punishment (of Hell Fire)!
Sahih Al-Bukhari
Hadith 7.259 Narrated by Abu
Juhaifa
The Prophet (saws)
invoked the curse of Allah on the lady who practices tattooing, and the one who
gets herself tattooed; and one who eats (takes) Riba' (usury) and the one who
gives it.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 3327 Narrated by Abdullah ibn
Mas'ud
The Apostle of
Allah (peace be upon him) invoked the curse of Allah on the one who accepted
usury, the one who paid it, the witness to it, and the one who recorded it.
Most of the aayahs of the Holy
Quran regarding the concept of ‘riba’ are for the ones taking it; but it is appropriately
and authentically recorded that the Messenger of Allah (saws) specifically
invoked the curse of Allah on those who accepted riba and also on those who
paid it.
Your question: - Taking a Loan
for building a house/buying some property
Taking a loan is not prohibited
in Islam, provided one can find someone who would give him a loan without
charging him any interest. But taking a
loan from a person or an institution for anything, and paying interest on it is
strictly forbidden in Islam.
Your question: - Securing a
property as guarantee to finance a business
There is no harm if one gives
something as a security to take a loan, provided the one who gives the loan
does not charge interest on the loan.
Your question: - Opening Letter
of Credit and paying interest while conducting Business
There is no harm opening a
Letter of Credit, provided one settles the bill as soon as it is due so that
there is no interest transaction involved.
Paying interest while conducting business or paying interest for
anything is forbidden.
There is no harm if one uses a
credit card, provided the bill is settled as soon as it is due, so that there
is no interest transaction involved.
Your Statement: Please elaborate with respect to the current
economic situations in the world.
Dear Brother in Islam, it indeed
looks difficult, if not impossible to live, work, or function today without
being involved in the evil of interest transactions. Whatever the current economic situation in the world, and
whatever the system prevailent in the world of finance today; Allah and His
Messenger (saws) have declared the taking and paying of ‘riba’ haraam; and if
one truly believes in Allah and the Last Day, must strive to keep himself away
from it.
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
warned the believers that there will come a time when even if one does not
directly involve himself in riba, the society will be so engrossed in the evil
of ‘riba’, that its vapour will reach him!
Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 3325 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah
The Prophet (peace
be upon him) said: ‘A time is certainly
coming to mankind when only the receiver of usury will remain, and if he does
not receive it, some of its vapour will reach him.
May Allah make you and us
independent of everything, except Him.
May Allah help us to come out of this system of ‘riba’. May Allah guide us to read and understand
the Holy Quran so that we can keep ourselves aligned to His commandments and
guidance. May Allah guide us to the
Straight Path of Islam. Ameen.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother in Islam
Burhan