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However, if a person is driven to borrowing money on interest due to some pressing need, the sin will be on
the lender alone. Now, to establish such a pressing need certain conditions must be met:
1.
The need must be real, not merely an extension of the scope of one’s needs and the desire for luxury. It
must be so basic that life is not possible without it, for example, food, clothing, and medical treatment.
2.
This concession is limited to the exact amount needed. Thus, for example, if nine dollars is sufficient,
borrowing ten dollars is not lawful.
3.
The borrower must continue to search for ways to escape from his predicament, and his brother Muslims
should help him in this. If no other means are found, he can resort to borrowing on interest with no
intention of liking it or transgressing the limits, and hope for forgiveness from Allâh, as indeed He is
Forgiving and Merciful.
4.
He must continue to hate it and regret doing it until Allâh opens a way out for him.
Concerning the Prophet’s Seeking Refuge with Allâh from
The Muslim must be aware that his religion commands him to be moderate in his living habits and thrifty in
his financial affairs...And do not be extravagant; indeed, He does not like those who are extravagant.
(6:141)...And do not squander your wealth wantonly; truly, those who squander are the brothers of the evil
ones. (17:26-27)
When the Qur‘ân asked Muslims to spend in the way of Allâh, it did not ask them to spend all but merely a
part of their wealth. If a person spends only a part of what he earns, it is not likely that he will become
destitute; thus, with moderation in his living habits and control of his spending, the Muslim will not be
compelled to borrow The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) disliked the Muslim’s being in debt because debt is a worry by
night and a humiliation by day. He always asked Allâh’s protection from indebtedness, saying, “O Allâh, I
seek refuge in Thee from the burden of debt and from the anger of men.” (Reported by Abû Daoud.)
He also said, ‘I seek refuge in Thee from unbelief and debt.’ A man asked him, ‘Do you equate debt with
unbelief?‘ He replied, ‘Yes.’ (Reported by al-Nisai and al-Hakim.) In his prayers he would frequently say, ‘O
Allâh, I seek refuge in Thee from sin and debt.’ He was asked, ‘Why do you so often seek the protection of
Allâh from debt?‘ He replied, ‘One who is in debt tells lies and breaks promises.’ (Compiled by al-Bukhâri.)
From these statements it becomes clear that borrowing can endanger one’s morals.
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) would not pray the funeral prayer for a person who had died in a state of
indebtedness, not leaving behind enough property to repay his loans; he did this in order to discourage
others from such an end. In later years, when Allâh had enriched him from the spoils of war, he paid the
debts of such persons and led their funeral prayers. (This is from what is narrated by Jabir and Abû
Hurairah.)
He said, “Everything will be forgiven to the shaheed (martyr in the cause of Allâh) except debt.” (Compiled
by Muslim.)
The Muslim who is informed of these ahadith will never resort to borrowing except in the case of dire need,
and if he does borrow will always remain mindful of the obligation of repayment. A hadith states, If a man
borrows from people with the intention of repaying them, Allâh will help him to repay, while if he borrows
without intending to repay them, Allâh will bring him to ruin. (Compiled by al-Bukhâri.) Accordingly, if a
Muslim is not to resort to the kind of borrowing which is halal (that is, without interest) without a compelling
need, what can we say concerning his borrowing money on interest?
Sale for Deferred Payment (Credit)
While it is best to buy an article by paying cash, it is also permissible to buy on credit by mutual consent. The
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Prophet (s.a.w.s.) bought some grain from a Jew, to be paid for at specific time, pledging his coat of mail as
security. (Compiled by al-Bukhâri.)
A group of jurists are of the opinion that, should the seller increase his price if the buyer asks for deferred
payments, as is common in installment buying, the price differential due to the time delay resembles interest,
which is likewise a price for time; accordingly, they declare such sales to be haram. However, the majority of
scholars permit it because the basic principle is the permissibility of things, and no clear text exists
prohibiting such a transaction. Furthermore, there is, on the whole, no resemblance to interest in such a
transaction, since the seller is free to increase the price as he deems proper, as long as it is not to the extent
of blatant exploitation or clear injustic, in which case it is haram. Al-Shawkani says, “On the basic of legal
reasons, the followers of Shafi‘i and Hanafi schools, Zaid bin ‘Ali, al-Muayyid Billah, and the majority of
scholars consider it lawful.” (Nayl al-awtar, vol. 5, p. 153. Al-Shawkani said, “We have compiled a treatise
on this subject and have called it ‘Shifa al‘ilal fi hukum ziyadat al-thamam li mujarrad al-ajal‘ (The Reason for
Increasing the Price Due to Lapse of Time), and have researched it thoroughly.”)
Payment in Advance
The Muslim is allowed to make an advance payment of a specified price for a specified quantity of
merchandise to be delivered at a fixed time in the future. This type of transaction was prevalent in Madinah
when the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) arrived, and he introduced certain changes and conditions in this type of
transaction in order to bring it into conformity with the Islâmic Shari‘ ah. Ibn Abbas narrated, “When Allâh’s
Messenger (s.a.w.s.) came to Madinah, they were paying one and two years in advance for fruits, but he
then said, Those who pay for anything in advance must do so for a specified measure and weight, with the
fixing of a specified time. (Compiled by al-Bukhâri, Muslim and others.)
This limitation of specifying the measure or weight and time removes uncertainty and misunderstanding.
Similar to this was the practi4 of paying in advance for the fruit of a certain number of palm trees, which the
Prophet (s.a.w.s.) prohibited because of the possibility of unforeseen losses due to blight. The proper form of
advance trade is therefore to specify the measure of weight, rather than selling the fruits of a certain number
of trees or the crop of a certain acreage of sown field. However, such a transaction is haram if the owner of
the trees or the farm land is clearly being exploited because he needs money.
Partnership Between Capital and Labor
It may be said that Allâh Subhanahu wa Ta‘ala has distributed talents and wealth among human beings
according to a wise plan of apportionment. We find many a talented and experienced individual who does
not possess much wealth or none at all, while others have a great deal of money but little or no talent. Why,
therefore, should not the wealthy person turn over to the one possessing talents some of his wealth to invest
in a profitable business, so that the two may benefit from one another and share the profits according to
some agreed-upon formula? In particular, business ventures on a large scale require the cooperation of
many investors. Among the populace we find a large number of people who have savings and excess capital
but who lack time or the capability of investing it. Why should not this money be pooled and placed under the
management of capable people who will invest it in significant, large-scale projects?
We maintain that the Islâmic Shari‘ah did not prohibit cooperation between capital and management, or
between capital and labor as these terms are understood in their Islâmic legal sense. In fact, the Shari‘ah
established a firm and equitable basis for such cooperation: if the owner of capital wishes to become a
partner with the working man, he must agree to share all the consequences of this partnership. The Shari‘ah
lays down the condition that in such a partnership, which is called al-mudaribah or al-qirad, the two parties
should agree that they will share the profit if there is profit and loss if there is loss in a proportion agreed
upon in advance. This proportion can be one-half, one-third, one-fourth, or any other proportion for one party
and the remainder for the other party. Thus the partnership between capital and labor is that of two parties
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