Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Wa' laykum-as-Salaam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuhu
All Praise be to Allah, who is the Lord of the Worlds, and may Endless Blessings be showered upon His Most Beloved, and Final Messenger of Islam, Hadrat Muhammad Mustafa (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam)Jazak'Allah for your valued question. Where a house/goods/services are needed, then Islam allows for a loan to be taken out. Yet some people may prevent this as they may say that it is haraam, and present the following verse of the Qur'an al kareem:
'wa ahall allahul bay'a wa harram ar riba'
'We have made business halal upon you, and made interest haram'.
It is no doubt true that those people who do business in order to gain interest, or live from money of interest, or give interest in order to gain large amounts, will be accounted for on the day of judgement. It is said that such people will rise on the day of reckoning with bellies the size of mansions, upon which they will fall, and stagger, as a result of the interest that they had accrued and digested.
However, some very researched scholars ('
ulama') of the
Ahl-al-Sunnah wal Jamaa'ah, for example, Mujaddid-e-A'zam Hadrat Mawlana Shah Ahmad Rida Khan Barelvi, (Rehmatullahi ’Alaih) in his
'kufl-al-faqiha-al-faahim', and Mawlana Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan Na'imi (Rehmatullahi ’Alaih)in his
'Tafsir-e-Na'imi', have very cleverly made classifications in the types of interest, particularly in those types of interests which are used in Islamic states (
dar-al-Islam), and those made in non-Islamic states (
dar-al-kufr).
Following is a translation of extracts of some of the works from Mufti Sahib (Rehmatullahi ’Alaih)'s
Tafsir.
The reality of interest, and other issues;There are two types of interest, excessive interest, and interest from borrowings.
Excessive interest, is that on both sides there is the same good of the same weight, and then there is excess on one side, and less on the other. For example, if gold is given in exchange of gold, but on one side four grams is taken, and you have given five grams, then this is interest, because gold, for gold is giving and taking of a good of the same type i.e. gold, and it is also a good that can be weighed i.e. in grams.
It must be remembered that 'the same type' refers to same in name, and in purchase, if it is the same in purchase, yet seperate in type, then this will not be referred to as the 'same type'. An example is petrol and diesel, that they are all referred to as fuels, but their benefits and influences are different, therefore to increase or decrease them in terms of volume will not be referred to as interest. To sell a gallon of diesel, for one and a half gallons of petrol is therefore permissable (
ja'iz).
Paper (bank notes), and silver (coins), are not of the 'same type', therefore to trade a ten pound note for a twenty pound note in cash is permissable (
ja'iz). Similarly, to trade a fifty pence coin for a pound coin is also permissable, on the grounds that a fifty pence is silver, and the pound coin is gold, that they are not of the 'same type'. For a detailed account, see Imam Ahmad Rida Khans (Rehmatullahi ’Alaih) works, mentioned above.
The second type of interest is the interest from borrowings. In this issue, that only those things which are of the 'similar type', or of the similar effect, are haram. In other words that in only one attribute/characteristic of the good, in being similar, is enough for it to render it haram. Therefore, to give wheat upfront, and to buy barley and pay later, would render the transaction as haram, because although they are not of the 'same type', nevertheless they are of the same weight, as they are weighed by the kilo, or the tonne.
Now that we have found that there are two conditions in gaining/giving interest:
a) Both goods to be of 'the same type.'
b) Both goods to be of the 'same weight'.
If non of the above conditions are fulfilled, the excess of which will be rendered as
halaal. Lets see an example, it is permissable to gain two tonnes of oats, in exchange of one tonne of barley is permissable (
ja'iz), because oats and barley are not of the 'same type'.
Similarly, to give ten fresh eggs in exchange of fifteen fresh eggs is permissable (
ja'iz), because such a good is not weighed, but are sold on a count, eg. six, twelve etc.
Similarly, to gain benefit (
naf'a) from a non believer, is not regarded as gaining interest (
Shaami, baab-ar-Ribaa) regardless of whether he gains it in an Islamic state (
dar-al-Islam), ot non-Islamic state (
dar-al-harb).
Similarly, it is not regarded as interest for those people who attain benefit from other Muslims in a non-Islamic state (
dar-al-harb) who have not yet reached an Islamic state (
dar-al-Islam), whether he attains it in an Islamic state (
dar-al-Islam), or non-Islamic state (
dar-al-harb).
Once this is understood, there are a few paths one should adopt, in order to caution oneself from attaining interest:
1) To do business in order to gain profit from bank notes is permissable.
One can sell a ten pound note for a twenty, and a hundred for two hundred. Because a bank note is paper, and a pound coin is gold, therefore they do not bear the same characteristics. To the extent that if at both hands there are bank notes, then this is permissable as well, because bank notes are not weighed or metred, but merely counted.
2) To sell a pound coin, for a fifty pence or a twenty pence is valid, because the pound is gold, and pennies are either silver or bronze, and they are not of the 'same type'.
When the
hajis go from England, America, Pakistan, or India to do
Umrah or
Hajj, they exchange thier notes for the Arabic ones, whose rates vary. Sometimes the 'pound' is sold at six
riyals and sometimes four, and sometimes seven. Now tell us this, that those people who go to such a blessed place and exchange their currencies, have they any room to say that such an exchange is unequal, or
haram, or invalid? They must be hypocrites if they did!
If the government wishes, then it may make a twenty pound note into a fifty pound note, and a fifty into a twenty. This clearly proves, that it is not the paper known as the bank note which is of monetary value, but the law of the government.
3) To gain profit or a benefit from the government of England is not interest, i.e. buying a house or gaining a bank loan, but it is permissable to purchase from a non believer, as long as the Muslim has fulfilled his need, and there is no transgression or oppression.
We have now established that to gain any right, profit, or benefit is not regarded as interest, but is
halaal. Therefore, the Barclays, HSBC, Midlands and Lloyds Banks which provide any of the above is
halaal, although such organisations may refer to it as interest. But this is not referred to as interest in the Islamic
Shar'iyyah, nevertheless, it would be haram to attain interest from an Islamic Bank, but where the exchange of notes is concerned, then this is valid.
'Durr-e-Mukhtar' states, that one of the conditions in which profit from the pound is
halaal, but not the interest, is if the Muslim takes from the non-Muslim, and some of the Mulims benefit some of the other Muslims in a non Islamic state (
dar-al-harb), provided that non of them had ever been to an Islamic state (
dar-al-Islam).
In cases of insurance then if the company belongs to a non-Muslim organisation, then it is
halaal, if not then haram, because in insurance you can benefit from the payment of a monetary value.
It is necessary to save oneself from the doubt of interest as the Most Beloved Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam), had clearly indicated all those issues regarding interest, prior to His meeting with the Almighty.
These are some of the issues which Qiblah Mufti Sahib (Rehmatullahi ’Alaih) had put forward in their research with regard to Muslims in their own states, and Muslims in non-Islamic states. It may be quiet hard to understand at first, but you will realise the excellence (
fadhilah) of his research, if read a few times carefully, or if you imagine practicing the examples that have been given.
May Allah the Almighty, show us the ways through the Divine Shar'iyyah, of all those issues that we face in the modern world, and may he save us from claiming to be the followers, yet in reality may be hypocritical, in our every day life. (amin)Wallaho a'lamu biththawaabM. Waseem Ashrafi
