WHAT IS LEASE? WHETHER GIVING OR TAKING ANYTHING ON LEASE IS PERMISSIBLE?
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:
ASSALAAMU
ALAIKUM
DEAR
BROTHER BURHAN,
Q1:
WHAT IS LEASE? WHETHER GIVING OR TAKING ANYTHING ON LEASE IS PERMISSIBLE?
Q2:
SIMILARLY, WHETHER BUYING ANYTHING ON INSTALLMENT IS PERMISSIBLE?
I
WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR PROMPT REPLY.
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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:
Lease and
installments
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.
Your
Question: WHAT IS LEASE?
A lease is a period contract between the owner of a
product and its user in exchange for a compensation. The ownership of the product remains with the
original owner, and the user of the product pays an agreed compensation to the
owner for the period the product is used.
Your
Question: WHETHER GIVING OR TAKING ANYTHING ON LEASE IS PERMISSIBLE?
Provided none of the conditions or boundaries of Shariah
are violated, the concept of ‘lease’ itself is absolutely lawful in the Sight
of Shariah.
For example, if one owns a house and leases the house to
the occupant for an agreed rent, there is absolutely no harm….but if one owns a
gambling casino, or a prostitution den, or a bar, etc. and leases it to
someone, that indeed would be unlawful.
Your
Question: SIMILARLY, WHETHER BUYING ANYTHING ON INSTALLMENT IS
PERMISSIBLE?
There is absolutely nothing in the Shariah which prohibits
or restrains the believers from paying for something in installments, provided
one is not asked to pay anything above the principal amount of purchase…for
that increase would then be ‘riba’ or interest…..and the receiving or paying of
‘riba’ and interest is absolutely and unconditionally prohibited in Islam.
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 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 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.
For example: if a deal is agreed between the buyer and the
seller to purchase a car for $10,000.00, and the seller agrees to accept an
installment of $1,000.00 for ten months from the buyer….such a transaction is
absolutely lawful in the Sight of Shariah Law.
But if the transaction for the purchase of the car is
agreed at $10,000.00, and the seller demands or the buyer offers or agrees that
he would pay 11 (or 12, 13, 14, etc.) installments of $1,000.00 per month to
cover for the delay in payment….any increase from the agreed purchase amount
would be a clear manifestation of ‘riba’ and interest….and such a transaction
would be absolutely unlawful and prohibited in Islam.
It is not the concept of paying or receiving installments
per say which is unlawful in Islam; but if there is even a one-cent increase
between the agreed purchase amount and the total installments to be paid, then
that increase would be a clear manifestation of the unlawful concept of ‘riba’
and interest, a concept which has been declared absolutely unlawful and
‘haraam’ for the believers by Allah and His Messenger (saws).
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