My husband took a home loan and bought a new flat 2 years back.
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:
Assalamalaikum
My husband took a home loan and bought a new flat 2 years back . Since then we
have been staying on our house & paying EMI every month. But now since last
6 months alhamdullilah we both have been taking lots of effort to come closer
to Islam & have realised that even giving interest is haraam. Initially we
thought that only taking interest from banks is haraam. Now that we have
already taken loan with interest & also realized that its haraam to do so,
please do suggest what we shud do now? We have already committed a great sin
& now we are looking for ways for repentance. Please do help us. Also, let
us know whether keeping money in fixed deposit is sin or not as ultimately
after some years the money multiples due to interest. does that money also
become haraam?
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Answer:
Bought house on loan
interest
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 none 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 in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 274-276:
But
those who devour ‘riba’ become like the one whom Shaitaan has bewitched and
maddened by his touch. They have been
condemned to this condition because they say,
“Trade is just like ‘riba”, whereas
Allah has made trade halaal and ‘riba’ haraam. Henceforth,
if one abstains from taking ‘riba’ after receiving this admonition from
his Lord, no legal action shall be taken
against him regarding the ‘riba’ he had devoured before: his case shall ultimately go to Allah. But if one repeats the same crime even after
this, he shall go to Hell, where he
shall abide for ever! Allah deprives
‘riba’ of all blessing and develops charity, and Allah does not like an ungrateful, sinful person.
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)!
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2827 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Even
though usury be much, it leads in the end to penury."
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2829 Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib
Ali said he heard Allah's Messenger (saws)
invoke the curse of Allah on those who took usury, those who paid it, those who
recorded it, and those who refused to give sadaqah.
Dear and beloved brother in Islam, it is neither the
taking out of a loan nor a mortgage which by itself is unlawful or prohibited
in Islam; what is unconditionally and specifically and categorically prohibited
and absolutely unlawful in the Sight of Allah Subhanah is the ‘interest’ element
in the conventional interest-based loans and mortgages.
There is absolutely no harm in Shariah if one wishes or
needs to take out a loan or a mortgage to fulfill their needs, provided the
loan/mortgage is Shariah compliant and thus free of interest; but to indulge in
an interest-based loan or mortgage would indeed be absolutely against the
Guidance, Commands and Boundaries of Allah Subhanah.
Your
Question: Now that we have already taken loan with interest & also realized
that its haraam to do so, please do suggest what we shud do now?
Whatever deeds one might have done, if one turns to Allah Subhanah in sincere
Taubah and seeks forgiveness, Allah
Subhanah has promised in the Holy Quran that He will forgive all the sins of
such a believer, even if one has
committed the gravest sin of all: ‘Shirk’!
Not only that, our Lord is so
Merciful and Generous, that He not only
will forgive the sins of the believer,
He will change his evil deeds done into good deeds!
The conditions or ways to seek sincere Taubah or
Repentance from the Merciful Lord are:
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah
Zumur verses 53-54:
(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged
their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely,
Allah forgives all sins. He
indeed is the All Forgiving, All
Merciful. Return to your Lord and
submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you;
for then you may get no help from anywhere.”
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale
Imraan verse 135-136:
Allah likes such good people very much,
who, if ever they commit a base deed or
wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their
shortcomings. For who, but Allah,
can forgive sins? (And Allah
loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from
Allah, and with Gardens beneath which
canals flow, and they will reside
therein forever! How excellent is the
reward of those who do good deeds!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah
Anaam verse 54:
When those come to you who believe in Our
Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule
of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil
in ignorance, and thereafter repented
and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
First and foremost sister, you should turn in ‘taubah’
unto your Lord Most Gracious and seek sincere forgiveness for the transgression
occurred at your hands in ignorance of the Laws of Shariah…..if you are indeed
sincere in your repentance, it is expected that you will find your Lord
Forgiving and Merciful.
Secondly, fear Allah, and do whatever is in your power and
control and ability to come out from the indulgence in ‘riba’ as soon as you
possibly can….either by paying off the loan if you have the means, or by
getting the house re-financed through a Shariah-compliant Islamic bank or
financial institution, etc…..basically do whatever it takes to take yourselves
out of the clutches of the abomination of ‘riba’. If you make sincere intention and do the
necessary striving to save yourself from the unlawful indulgence in ‘riba’ only
for the Sake and Fear of your Lord, rest assured that your Lord Most Gracious
will accept your piety and your obedience and will guide you to the right way,
Insha Allah.
Your Question: ….Also,
let us know whether keeping money in fixed deposit is sin or not as ultimately
after some years the money multiples due to interest. does that money also
become haraam?
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah
Ale-Imraan verses 130-132:
130 O ye who believe! Devour not ‘riba’ doubled and multiplied; but fear
Allah; that ye may (really) prosper.
131 Fear the Fire which is prepared for those
who reject faith.
132 And obey Allah and the Messenger; that ye
may obtain mercy.
‘Earning’ interest by keeping money in a ‘fixed deposit’
in a conventional interest-based bank or financial institution, would without
an iota of a doubt be unlawful earnings in the Sight of Shariah Law and of
Allah Subhanah; and the believers must fear Allah, and absolutely abstain from
all such unlawful earnings. One is
entitled in Shariah to use and consume their lawful principal amount, but to
take, use, or consume the ‘riba’ or interest such principal ‘earns’ through a
conventional interest-based ‘fixed deposit’ would indeed be a manifest transgression
of the Laws of Shariah, and an abomination of a sin in the Sight of the Lord
Most High.
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)!
If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and
commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),
one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any
other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be
assured of being led astray.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
