The Major Sins Series- RibaInterestUsury

The Major Sins Series: Riba (Interest/Usury)

Lecture by Abu Usamah at-Thahabi

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Alhamdulillah.

Introduction: The Seventh Major Sin

The seventh major sin, which is devouring and taking and using and utilizing usury or interest. He brings a statement of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

First Ayah:

"O you who believe, fear Allah and give up that which remains of your desire for riba, if you were truly believers. And if you refuse to give up your desire, then beware of a war with Allah and His messenger."

Allah and His messenger have declared war upon you. And then Imam Al-Dhahabi stopped there as it relates to the ayah. And there's some more of the ayah.

Analysis of the First Ayah

Concerning this ayah of the Quran, the first ayah shows that riba is a kabira from the kabair. This ayah was revealed to the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, and it is speaking to the agniyaa, the rich people of the Muslims during that time. Or any and everyone who was owed some money by other people, and the money that was owed was a result of riba.

Allah Azawajal told the rich people to give up what remains of your desire for riba, if you were truly believers. If you're not truly believers, then go ahead and do what you want to do, as we're going to do what we want to do.

When a person hears about the danger of riba, and that it is bad, that is khatir, and the sharr of riba is mustatir. But he continues to look at it as a small issue, Allah says, "If you're truly believers."

And the believers have been described in the Quran with a number of sifat. Too many. The believers are those people who, when Allah is mentioned, it causes their hearts to become fearful. And when his ayat are rehearsed to them and recited to them, it increases them in iman. And they rely on Allah.

They're not afraid of the recompense and the penalty for not obeying what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ordered them to do. Something that Allah ordered them to do, they're not afraid of obeying Allah. Instead, they are afraid of disobeying Allah.

So when he advises and he commands the believers to give up what remains of their desire for riba, if they're really believers, they would do it.

Ayah about the Believers:

"It is not acceptable, it is not befitting for a believing man or a believing woman, if Allah and his messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, decree an affair for them to have any say-so in that issue."

So in this ayat, Allah is ordering those Muslims who are owed riba, leave what remains of your desire to get that money.

The Example of the Prophet at the Conquest of Mecca

Concerning this issue, there's a very important point that I want to mention here. And that is, we want to share with you an example of the adl, the justice and the fairness of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and how he was a qudwa. He was an example.

He wasn't an individual who used to just give a lot of kalam. He was an example. The example of him being an example is what happened in the fath of Mecca, when he conquered Mecca.

And this ayat was read to the people. It came out to the people and he said to them a number of things. One of the things he said to them, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was:

Hadith:

He got in front of the people and he said, from what he said: "And all of the riba that is owed from the times of the Jahiliyyah are under my foot. Rendered null and void. Not permissible from this point on. And the very first riba that I'm going to destroy and make it abrogated, and make it that people don't have to pay it. The first riba is the riba of my rich, powerful uncle, al-Abbas. Whoever owes Abbas money from riba prior to this day, you don't have to pay him after that."

That's the example where Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, took one of the closest people to him to do what? To establish the hujjah, the argument, the daleel on everyone else.

He was not like many of the people today. They order the people to do good, like the Yahud.

Ayah:

"Do you Yahud order the people to do good and you forget to do it your own selves, and you read the book? Can't you and don't you reflect? Don't you use your aql?"

Rasulullah wasn't like that.

Modern Examples of Hypocrisy

There are those people who want to tell us, the khilafa, the khilafa, the khilafa. But you do not see the khilafa in the way his wife dresses. You do not see the khilafa in his beard.

You do not see the khilafa in the isbaal. You do not see the khilafa in him not being fair and just in the way he judges between people. الْجِهَادُ الْجِهَادُ الْجِهَادُ But you do not see him making jihad against his desires, judging that people are kufar based upon his desires.

You don't agree with me? So I say that you're kafir because you don't see jihad in a particular place in the world. So he says, you're from the munafiqeen, you're kafir. No.

Why don't you practice the jihad on yourself and judge between the people with al-adl and with the haqq. So the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was an example for us.

Another example that I want to give to you as a dhikr and nasiha to myself and to you.

When I was in Keighley, in my neighborhood there was the pir, he was a neighbor of mine. Over there was the sharif, the shah they used to call him, he was a neighbor of mine. Over there was the faqir, all of them had powerful positions in the masjid.

All of them were warning the people of the magic that we were putting on them, calling to the Quran and the sunnah, according to the way the salaf understood the Quran and the sunnah. But whenever you see the wife of the pir, and the daughter of the faqir, and the children of the shah, you will see that they're not ordering their children and they're not being examples for the congregation.

So if we're going to give dawah to Allah, we have to make an attempt to be examples of that.

The Example from the Battle of Badr

In the ghazwa of al-Badr, in the battle of Badr. When they were about to engage the enemy in the battle, those kuffar came out, three of them from the chiefs of the kuffar from Quraysh, and they challenged the Muslims. Upon hearing the challenge, the three people from the ansar, from the shabab, were quick to go out to meet them.

The Quraysh people said, we don't have a problem with you, send out those who are like us. So the kuffar of Quraysh recognized that the Muslims of Quraysh are better than the ansar. They recognized that the Muslims of Quraysh are the best of this ummah, and they have a special position in this ummah.

The Qurayshi is not like the non-Qurayshi. The Qurayshi is not like the non-Qurayshi, especially if he is from Ahlulbayt. They said, we don't have a problem with you, send out those people who are similar to us.

What did the prophet do? Upon hearing that, he himself stood up and he called his uncle Hamza. And along with Hamza, he called the nephew of Hamza, Ali ibn Abi Talib. And Hamza's other nephew, Ubaidullah ibn al-Harith.

Ali's father, Abu Talib, as well as Ubaidullah's father, al-Harith, were brothers to Hamza and Abbas. Rasulullah chose these three people, salallahu alayhi wa sallam رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمْ to go out and to risk their lives before the battle started. As an example, in the daleel, he was a person who was the qudwa for us.

Not like today. The person in the position of leadership, if blood can spill and flow, and people can lose their property, their lives, and their money, they'll take their children and shield their children, and put someone else's child or someone else in front of harm's way. This was not the way of the prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.

So he made the riba of his uncle, Abbas. مَوْضُوعٌ it is left حَرَامٌ، مَطْرُوحٌ، تَحْتَ قَدَمَيَّ هَاتَيْنِ. It is below my two feet on this day.

The Continuation of the First Ayah

As for the riba that you took in the past, the rest of the ayat that Imam Al-Dhahabi didn't bring, is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said:

"If the people make tawbah for this desire of having riba, if you make tawbah, you will get the original monies that you had in jahiliyya. You won't be responsible for the riba you took in jahiliyya."

يَجُبُّ مَا كَانَ قَبْلَهُ الْإِسْلَامُ

Al-Islam wipes away what went before. Anyone made any major sin prior to Al-Islam, Al-Islam wipes it away. So that's the first ayah that Imam Al-Dhahabi brings.

The Second Ayah: Punishment of Riba on Yawm al-Qiyamah

The second ayah is the statement of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala:

"Those who utilize usury, they will not stand up Yawm al-Qiyamah except like the one who stands up who has been touched by the Shaytan."

He's possessed. مَصْرُوعٌ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ . So the one who's possessed when he stands up, there's no rhyme or reason to the way he's walking and the way he's acting.

The one who takes riba in the dunya will be raised up Yawm al-Qiyamah like that. He's going to be wandering to and fro without any rhyme or reason, and that's one of the punishments of ar-riba.

Three Important Points from This Ayah

Concerning this ayah, there are three waqafat that we want to make.

First Point: Possession is Real in Islam

The first point that we want to bring to your attention concerning this is, this ayah establishes something that Muslims have to believe in and that is, a person can become possessed. There is possession in the religion of al-Islam as Allah established it in this ayah. And it's been established in the authentic sunnah of Rasulullah as well, in so many ahadith, in Sahih al-Bukhari, in Sahih al-Muslim, and in other than that, the books of al-Hadith.

Hadith:

The Prophet was traveling, he came upon a group of people, and the lady brought her child, innocent, defenseless child, and said, Ya Rasulullah, my child is possessed. Rasulullah took the child, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, while he was on his riding beast, and he said to the child:

أُخْرُجْ يَا عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ فَإِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ

(Musnad Ahmad)

"Get out of him, O enemy of Allah, verily I am the Messenger of Allah."

And then he gave the child back to the lady and went on his way. He came back from that way. He passed by the lady, the lady was there with two sheeps that she slaughtered for Rasulullah, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. He took one of the sheeps and said, you can have the other one, and he kept going.

Which is a daleel, that the one who reads for the person to take the jinn out of him, to take the shaitan off of him, he can take money for that.

Also, Ikhwan, I want to bring to your attention as it relates to possession, being possessed, because some people reject it and they don't believe it. They say that it's khurafat. It's established from the Quran and the Sunnah. They say that magic is not real. Established from the Quran and the Sunnah.

As it relates to being possessed, it is not authentic. For the one who's going to read to take the jinn out of the masra, where do the people get off slapping the man in the face, slapping him in his chest, beating him up, telling him, get out jinn, get out jinn. You will not find that from the Sunnah of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.

He read the Quran over people, he said things, but never did he beat the person up in trying to get to the jinn. This is from the deviation of the people today.

The Story of Imam Ahmad (Weak Narration)

There is a hikayah that Al-Imam Ahmed. Al-Imam Ahmed, it is said, was teaching his class. Someone came and said, Ya Imam, someone from my family, my relatives is possessed. Can you help?

Al-Imam Ahmed took off his shoe, told his student, take this shoe and go tell the jinn that Ahmed told you to get out, and if you don't get out, we're going to beat you.

The student went, said to the man or the jinn, get out. This is Al-Imam Ahmed's shoe, going to hit you if you don't get out. The jinn got out of that particular individual.

Time went on, Al-Imam Ahmed died. The one who took Al-Imam Ahmed's place was approached by someone else. Same incident, someone from my family has been possessed. Can you help me? Yeah. Tell him to take this shoe and do this and this and this. I saw Ahmed do that.

The man went, told the jinn, get out, I'm going to hit you with this shoe. The jinn remained. And the jinn started talking with the lisan of that person, which is possible.

The jinn started talking with the lisan of that person, which is possible. And said, I'm not going to come out, because Ahmed used to obey Allah, so we obeyed him. You people don't obey Allah, so we're not going to obey you.

Important Note: This narration is a hikayah, khurafat, never happened. No chain of narration, no authentic chain of narration. It is not permissible to hit the person who has the jinn in him.

You're hurting the person, and who knows, Ikhwan? Maybe that human being who is possessed, there's something to the jinn. There's something to the jinn's children, killed the jinn's children, who were believers, and now the jinn is getting them back. That's possible.

So it's not permissible to hit people. We only read the Quran, and we follow the sunnah.

Second Point: Establishing the Hujjah Before Judging

The second thing, as it relates to this ayah. And this is critical, Ikhwan. Important. Is that the second ayah that Imam Al-Dhahabi uses, and he brings to support, and to prove that riba is a kabira from the kabair.

Why Riba is a Major Sin: Bloodsuckers

Riba, Ikhwani, is from the major sins for a number of reasons.

One of the reasons is that the person who takes the riba and the people who take the riba and the financial institutions that are built upon the riba, they are in fact bloodsuckers. They are bloodsuckers. They suck the blood of the people and they oppress people.

Those people in our society who sell narcotics, they're criminals. But the biggest criminals are the financial institutions and the people who built them and who are behind them. They are bloodsuckers.

And for that reason, one of the things that happened when Rasulullah traveled from Mecca to Jerusalem, from Jerusalem to the seventh heaven is that when he was traveling from Mecca to Jerusalem, he saw a man in a lake, in the middle of the lake. And the lake was not a lake of fresh water, but it was a lake of blood. He was surrounded in blood.

Every time the man wanted to come out of the water to go to the shore, another man would take a big rock and throw it at him and hit him in his mouth and it would send him back into the water and he continued to do that over and over and over again.

Rasulullah asked Jibril sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, who was that? He said, that man is the one who takes Riba. That's a man who used to take the riba. He was a man who put on the people those conditions of riba.

The scholars of Islam said, because he was in the blood, that is an ayah and an indication that the people who take riba are bloodsuckers.

Riba Takes People's Money Without Right

Riba is also a major crime and sin because it's taking the people's money without the haq.

You want to get insurance and you pay the people for house insurance, car insurance, and nothing ever happens. A year goes by and you're paying 100 pounds every month, 600 pounds at the end of the year. By which haq did they get the money? By which haq did they get the money? They took the people's money without it being halal.

And we've been prohibited from that as we mentioned when we gave the class about the daruriyatul khams. The five major things that Islam came to protect. One of them is the monies of the people.

Muslims and non-Muslims, haram to take a man's money.

Ayah:

"[Oh, you who believe. Do not take each other's money with the way that it's not permissible.]"

You can't steal his money. You can't take the riba. You can't sell him a faulty product. The only way you can take his money is from a tijara. If you're in business or if the man gladly gives you the money as a gift, a hiba.

He gives it to you because he wants to give it to you. But you stealing his money is not permissible.

The Prophet Prohibited Many Types of Transactions

For that reason, Ikhwani, when we look at the sunnah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and what the kuffar used to do in Mecca, we will find he made a lot of business transactions are haram.

For an example, Al-Muzabanah. Al-Muzabanah was a practice that the kuffar used to have in which a man he would sell the unknown ripe dates that are still on the tree. He would sell an unknown amount for some dry dates for a specific amount.

You give me 5 kilos and you can have those dates on the tree. Rasulullah made that haram. He doesn't know what's going to be the end result of those dates. And those dates are not equal to those dates.

There is another practice that he made haram called Al-Muhaqalah. Al-Muhaqalah is the individual who comes and he says, here is some grain still in the husk and I have some processed grain that I took off of the husk.

I'll sell you this processed grain, but you give me this grain that is still in the husk. He made that haram. You don't know what's going to happen to that.

The one who has grapes and raisins. The Arabs used to do that as well. I'll give you these raisins to give me those dates that are still on the tree. He made it haram, not permissible.

The Story of Bilal and the Barni Dates

Bilal radiyallahu anhu, he purchased some dates called Barni. Not Barni like Fred Flintstone's companion. Barni, Barni dates. They're from the best dates of the Arabs. The succulent dates.

Bilal is miskeen, faqeer. Doesn't have any money. He brought the dates to Rasulullah s.a.w. Rasulullah said, where did you get those dates? Kind of strange situation.

Did you get them as sadaqa? Where did you get those dates, ya Bilal? Bilal said, ya Rasulullah, I had some dates that were bad. So I took my bad dates and I sold two sa'a. A sa'a.

One sa'a is when you take a handful of dates and you make four of those. That's one sa'a. If you take a handful and you make four, that's one sa'a.

He took two sa'a of bad dates, gave it to a man, and took from that man one sa'a of the Barni dates.

Hadith:

Rasulullah s.a.w. said:

"Oh! Oh! Beware! Beware! Don't do that because that is riba."

He told Bilal, If you want to purchase those good dates, then take your bad dates, go to sell them, get the money, and then purchase with the money, whatever you can, from the good dates.

So he s.a.w. didn't allow these types of transactions because they are taking people's monies without what is permissible.

He says s.a.w. showing the hikmah, the illah behind this:

"What if Allah destroys, and He doesn't allow, and He prevents the fruit from coming to fruition. He doesn't allow that particular date palm tree to render its produce. What if a hurricane comes? What if something happens that comes down in its back? In it are worms, beetles. And now you already took the man's money.

He said, with what right does one of you take his brother's money if Allah destroy that particular produce?"

So he made it not permissible. Those are from the reasons why ar-riba is a kabira from the kabair. It is zulm. It is zulm, it's not adl. You're taking the people's money without that which is halal.

The Main Hadith: The Curse Upon Those Involved in Riba

Concerning the hadith, there are only really one hadith that al-Imam al-Dhahabi brought after the first hadith of Abu Huraira r.a. He brought the statement of the Prophet s.a.w.

Hadith:

"Allah has cursed the one who eats the riba, he takes it, also the one who gave it to him."

That's in Sahih Muslim. And al-Imam al-Tirmidhi added on to this narration, some other people:

"And the two people who witnessed it, and the one who wrote the contract for the riba."

In another hadith he says:

"All of them are equal in the crime." صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

Practical Applications Today

All of them are equal in the sin. They're equal, all of them. The one who took it, the one who gave it, the two who witnessed it, the one who wrote the contract, the one who worked behind the counter. They're all equal in the sin. So it is not permissible.

I have a business in which I sell cars, no financing, just straight up, I sell you the car. Someone comes and he says, can you direct me to someone who can finance the car? I don't wanna give you finance, but I say, yeah, go over there, he'll do the financing. You're equal in that with the one who gives him the finance.

Riba is haram. To be an insurance man is sinning. To work in the bank is sinning.

All of that is haram to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And it is a part of not cooperating on الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ To work in the bank is haram. To be an insurance salesman is haram. Why? Because it is built on and predicated upon a Kabira from the Kabair,

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and you are bloodsucker, and you're helping to oppress the people, and that is not permissible in the deen of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Final Hadith: Severity of One Dirham of Riba

The last hadith that Imam Al-Dhahabi brings, Ikhwani:

Hadith:

Reference: Musnad Ahmad

He says: "The one who takes the riba, the one who gives the riba, the one who writes it, if they know, and have knowledge of it."

You have to have knowledge of a thing before you're held accountable. Before we judge people as being criminals, kafirs, munafiqeen, the argument, the daleel has to be established upon them.

He said about this point concerning riba, sallallahu alayhi wasallam:

Hadith:

Reference: Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 3869

"One dirham, one dirham that a man takes from riba, and he knows, if he doesn't know, he's not responsible. Money comes in from riba and he doesn't know. But if he knows that this one dirham is from riba and he takes it, Rasulullah said, it is more severe in Allah's sight than that man making zina with 36 different people."

That hadith is authentic.

So when the Muslim hears that, and he means the well-known hadith of Rasulullah, sallallahu alayhi wasallam:

Hadith:

Reference: Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat by al-Tabarani

"The riba is 72 different branches, 72 different types of riba. The lowest type of riba is, like the man having relations with his mother as a Muslim, not as a kafir. In Islam, he has relations with his mother."

Who in his right mind, knowing those examples, taking one dirham of riba is like having 63 partners of zina. The lowest branch of riba is like, having relationships with one's mother, a kabira from the kabair. No one's going to fall into it, knowingly, unless he's being compelled.

As for the one who's doing it and he's desiring it, then this is clearly, akhwani, zulm on the person's self.

The Highest Form of Riba: Backbiting

Hadith:

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(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4876)

"And the highest form of riba, is for a person to talk unjustly about the honor of his brother."

The riba that we fall into, is the highest type of riba. So the man is trying his best to stay away from riba, from the bank, from the insurance, from the home, but he is a mukhtab, he's always making riba. So he's missing the point.

On one hand he's doing something good, but on the other hand he's making the worst type of riba, which is اِسْتِطَالَةُ الْمَرْءِ فِي عِرْضِ أَخِيهِ . The person talking about the honor of his brother unjustly.

As for the one who deserves to be warned against, as for the one who deserves to be exposed, لَا حُرْمَةً لِفَاسِقِ وَلَا حَدَّ Do what you have to do concerning that. But what the vast majority of Muslims preoccupy themselves with, about ،قَالَ فُلَانٌ، وَقَالَ فُلَانٌ كُلُّ هَذَا This is the worst type of riba.

Living in the West: Compulsion and Riba

Also concerning the issue of riba, and it being a kabira from the kabair, that need to be avoided in the religion of Al-Islam, is the fact that, khawani, that living here, many of us are forced and compelled to fall into riba. There's nothing we can do about it. The dust of riba is going to almost touch everyone here no matter what.

In those kinds of situations, we hate it in our hearts, we make tawba for it, but Allah Azawajal doesn't make people responsible for what is beyond their scope and their ability, what they're compelled to do.

And we said it before and we'll say it again, I advise anyone from amongst you, to get car insurance, because it is a bigger fitna, to get into an accident and not to have car insurance. But when you get the haram car insurance, you should know it's haram. And make tawba that it's haram. And you should get the least amount. Don't go overboard in getting the insurance.

I have a son, he's a teenager, 18, 19, just learning how to drive, I'll insure him. I'll insure my wife, I'll insure myself. We'll get the lowest, least amount of insurance.

As for the one who goes overboard, he has to fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, those people eat the monies of people, without that which is halal. Those car companies, they don't make their money, the car rental companies. They don't make their money from you renting a car.

They make their money from hundreds of people in a month's time renting a car, paying insurance and nothing happening. And then when you get into an accident and you have the insurance, they give you a hard time and try to get you to pay. Those are the unjust financial institutions that these people have.

So concerning the riba, ikhwani, we have to fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Regarding Islamic Banks

Concerning the Islamic banks, wherever they are, the majority of the Islamic banks deal in riba. And it's almost impossible for them not to deal in riba. But we support the Islamic banks because we want good from them.

We want to support them. It's like Islamic schools. Yes, they are below the level of the kuffar schools that we want to send our children to in order for our child to compete.

But it's a vicious cycle. If we don't get Muslim teachers to make a sacrifice to work at a lower wage, and if we don't get Muslim members of the community to make the sacrifice and to send our children there anyway and do what you can do to

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raise the level of the school, then it's going to remain below par.

So the Islamic bank, for some reason, we have a hatred towards them more than the kuffar banks. Yes, most of that is riba. One of the types of riba is al-'inah. And as Rasulullah said وَسَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِ اللهُ صَلَّى riba is 72 types.

There are many, many different types of riba. Many types of riba. Riba al-fadl, riba al-nasi'ah. So many types of riba.

What is Al-'Inah?

One of the ribas that the Islamic banks work on and with is al-'inah.

Hadith:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 3462)

What the Prophet says وَسَلَّمَ عَلَيْهِ اللَّهُ صَلَّى :

"If you people take this 'inah, this type of usury, and you grab and take the tails of the cows and preoccupy yourselves with your animals and your agriculture, and you leave off jihad, Allah will make you low. And He won't take that lowliness off of you until you return to your deen. Making jihad, not being slaves of the dunya."

Al-'inah is the deferred payment. And it has many examples. He wants to buy something from him. So he agrees that he's going to pay 10 pounds a month. So he purchased from him the product. And he pays 10 pounds every month.

That guy comes back and he purchases what he sold to him. He purchases it for 100 pounds. He was going to spend 120 pounds. He purchases it from him 100 pounds. He gives it back to him and he's still responsible for paying every month a payment until he gives him 20 more extra pounds. That's al-'inah.

And al-'inah can be with two people or it can be with three people. Deferred payment, like the bank. Someone needs something, me and him, and we go to the bank and they play games and try to hide it as riba.

So we support the Islamic banks. But it's going to require a level of sacrifice for us and a level of sacrifice for them. But don't be in doubt. They're dealing riba. They're dealing riba. They can't get away from it.

What's the difference between the Islamic bank and the non-Islamic bank? The difference is just in the Islam and non-Islam. TCF, Lloyds, NatWest. And maybe when you go to the Islamic bank, they say salamu alaykum and things like that.

Questions and Answers

Question 1: Student Loans

Question: What about the student loan? I borrowed money from an institution, for my education. And after that, I've seen that they put some charge on it, you know, like the riba. And I don't want it, but I want to pay back, but it's going more and more.

Answer:

Concerning the student loans that have riba on them, you can't get away from it. What we're going to tell the student, don't go to college, don't go to the university, because you're poor and you can't afford it.

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So just get a job as the bank collector. Not that the bank collector is a bad job, but he has the ability to become an eye surgeon. She has the ability to become a gynecologist.

What we're going to tell them, no, no, don't go because you're going to have to take riba. Of course, we're not going to say something like that. If you take that loan out, ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make a way for you to pay the loan.

And whoever fears Allah, Allah makes a way out for him. And you are responsible for the loans that we get from those kuffar. We are responsible.

Question 2: Credit and Debit Cards

Credit and debit cards are haram. They're backed by the concept and they play into the concept of riba. Especially the credit card.

To get a credit card is haram. Even if you get a secured credit card. I put up 200 pounds and I can spend up to 200 pounds. It's my own money. But you have agreed that if you don't pay whatever you purchased before the month is out, that you're going to pay the riba. And it's not permissible for you to agree on the condition that's haram.

Hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2735; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1504)

"Every condition that's not in the book of Allah is batil. Even if it is 100 conditions."

So when you agree to that condition, if I don't pay you before the month is out, you're going to charge me 2.5% financing. Haram.

But again, we're living here. You may be forced, you may be compelled.

You may be forced, you may be compelled. In America, when you travel, if you live in the state of New York, you can take your debit card and rent a car. You can rent a car.

But if you travel anywhere else in the other states, you cannot rent a car with your debit card. They want to see a credit card. No matter what kind of credit card it is. Gold, platinum, whatever it is. They want a credit card.

So my business is driving, I travel and I drive. So I'm compelled and I'm forced. I'm compelled and I'm forced.

What is clearly away from Islam is the one who has a credit card and strangles himself by abusing the credit card, buying what he doesn't need, buying and spending, and getting things that are beyond his means. That's not permissible.

As for the one who is compelled, he hates it and he sees that he is forced. And we gave that dars before.

"Whenever you have to fall into something that's haram, you do enough of it just to save yourself."

And we gave some other principles that were vital to know.

Question 3: Card Machines in Islamic Bookstores

Question: Concerning the businesses that the people have, person has an Islamic bookstore that has books about Riba is haram كِتَابُ الْكَبَائِرِ . But in the bookstore, there's the card to swipe. Is it haram to have that card? That machine?

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Answer:

That machine is helping to do the haram. But that is the culture of business here that you can't get away from. It is the culture of the business here that you can't get away from.

So the person again, he hates it and he makes Tawba from it, and he seeks a way to get around it. But there are just certain issues because this is the lifestyle we're living. Wherever you go, you're not going to escape these issues.

Medina and Mecca, you're not going to escape these issues. The bookstores of Medina and Mecca, the bookstores that sell Islamic books, they have that machine where you swipe your credit card in it. Where you swipe your other card in it.

Does that make it halal? No, it doesn't make it halal. What people do in Mecca and Medina. The point is, that's the culture of the dunya today.

That the ma'ruf has become munkar, and the munkar has become ma'ruf, and the Muslims are below, and the ways of the kuffar are above.

Conclusion: The Importance of Knowledge and Balance

And we agree with the jihadi people. And we agree with Hizbul Tahrir. And we agree with the Ikhwan al-Muslimin about the importance of controlling and ruling, and the khilafa, and defending the deen. But, not the way those people go about it. Not the way they believe.

We believe in it inshallah, we have to believe in it in a way that is Islamic. Not the way some of these crazy people who say things like, what's going on in Palestine, they deserve it because they make shirk. What's going on in Afghanistan, they deserve it because they make shirk. What's going on in Iraq, they deserve it because they were Shia.

What is that? What is that kalam? What kind of nonsense is that type of statement?

If someone mentions something about jihad, we become and we say, oh, he's a jihadi. No, we say jihad is from the deen. And jihad is something that we all should concern ourselves with. And we shouldn't be afraid of the kuffar that we say, jihad is from our deen.

But what jihad? The jihad of Al-Islam, the real jihad.

The jihad that I make against myself, my lower base desires, and also the jihad of the lisan, and also the jihad of fighting. All of that is with our religion, but with knowledge, with the sharia of our deen. Not what the people are calling jihad, the Zarqawi, if there really is a Zarqawi.

Wallahi, I doubt there's really a man, his name is Abu Musab Zarqawi. I doubt it. I doubt if he really exists.

وَاللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَعْلَمُ

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

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End of Lecture