Q: Is interest halal
(permissible) in any form?
A: No. Taking of interest (Riba) is not only forbidden in the Qur’an (Al-Baqarah
275-281, Al-Imran 3:130) but Bible as well (Exodus 22:25, Leviticus 25:36,
Leviticus 25:37, Deuteronomy 23:19, Ezekiel 18:13,17).
Similarly, it has been considered morally wrong and harmful for a society not
only by some of the ancient economists but modern ones as well. See, for
example:
• It's The Usury, Stupid! by Tom J. Kennedy, 2006.
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2006/01/12/its_the_usury_interest_stupid.htm
• Usury and Just
Compensation: Religious and Financial Ethics in Historical Perspective by
Constant J. Mews and Ibrahim Abraham, Journal of Business Ethics 72:1–15, 2007.
• Conflicts of Interest? The Ethics of Usury by Martin Lewison, Journal of
Business Ethics 22: 327–339, 1999.
Q: I mean buying things on lease or getting loan on lease etc., are these
allowed in any way or any case?
A: Please note the following points which would help answer your question:
1. Interest is defined as a fixed increase which a lender demands from the
borrower just because the former has given the latter the permission to use some
amount of money for a certain period of time.
2. Interest is only related to consumable items e.g., money, food etc. The
additional money one pays on monthly basis on buying, for example a car or
house, is rent, not interest. However, in such cases, the ownership must reside
with the seller until or unless the buyer pays the agreed upon amount in full.
If the buyer fails to pay the full amount, the item, a car, house or whatever,
must be returned back to the owner.
3. Taking of interest or to help someone in taking it (e.g., writing interest’s
agreement or going to collect interest money on someone’s behalf etc.) is
prohibited in Islam. Whereas, to pay interest is neither prohibited in the
Qur’an nor the Hadith. People have understood a hadith (Sahih of Muslim no.
4093) wrongly due to which they hold that paying it is prohibited too. That
hadith forbids to “cooperate or assist” someone in business of interest and some
people argue that to pay interest is, in fact, to assist interest’s business.
Though, the one who pays it does so out of helplessness and does not intend to
cooperate or assist someone in interest’s business, therefore, the wrongdoer is
only the one who demands it.
Q: Should a study loan option be considered?
A: Yes, in my opinion, it should be considered when one does not have sufficient
means to assist one’s studies. As I have discussed above, only taking of
interest is a sin. The one who pays it cannot be deemed as a sinner, for he is
wronged and treated unfairly with.
Even if we agree for a moment that paying of interest is also prohibited, still,
one may be exempted from all Islamic rulings in cases where one becomes
helpless. For example, if a Muslim woman has to deliver a child and there is no
female doctor around, she can go to a male doctor. This is a helpless situation
in which the lives of the mother and child, of course, are far more important
than to cover mother’s private parts from the male doctor. Similarly, in your
case, when it seems impossible for you to carry on your studies without taking a
loan on interest, you may go for it.
Further Comments:
Interest is an evil which has become a part and parcel of our economy; no one
can flee from it at this time. When wrongdoings make such a place in a society,
Islam teaches to finish them gradually.
The best example is the evil of slavery in the Arab society in the time when the
Qur’an was revealing. The Qur’an did not finish it overnight because it simply
was not possible. Had it given an instant order to free all slaves, the whole
Arab economy which was based on slavery would have immediately collapsed.
Secondly, there were old, sick and handicap slaves who, if instantly freed,
would have found no means of sustenance but to go for begging. Similarly, there
were young maids who would have gone for prostitution and young men who might
have become thieves. Islam first improved people’s awareness about the problem
by introducing the concept of equality in the society, then paved way to help
the slaves become self sufficient to live on their own and, in the process,
closed the door, for everyone, to make new slaves. In the same way, instead of
eradicating interest overnight which would collapse our economic system in a
single moment, wisdom as well as the model of the Quranic reformations suggests
that we should think of alternative ways to get rid of it and, in the meanwhile,
tolerate it until an alternative system is fully functional. (By tolerating, I
do not mean to back it up but let interest-based institutions, e.g. banks,
work.)
I hope this would be helpful. Should you have any other query, please feel free
to write. Of course, Allah knows the best and we are only the students of His
D’in.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Junaid
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The above answers are based on Alama Javed Ahmed Ghamidi’s research. For further
reading please see his book: Meezan, 3rd ed., Chapter: Qanoon-e-Maeshat (Lahore:
Al-Mawrid, 2008), p. 508 to 512. Available online here:
http://www.ghamidi.org/
For the English version, please see:
http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=308