Very important Question on Riba (interest)

[arzafar]

why do you need higher education man? get some brothers together and start a small business. you're 19 still. by the time you're 30 you'll have 10 yrs experience and hopefully enough bucks to go for MBA from a top uni. you must be good at producing and selling something. maybe open up a desi food store?

 

[weakslave]

Subhana Allaah, Allaah's wisdom is truly infinite in all matters.

Allaah did not forbid interest, and did not warn against it's severe punishment for our entertainment. It is a serious and grievous sin. Unfortunately, the majority of the "Muslims" you will come across have become very materialistic, and the worldly things are their primary focus.

Look at the concept of bribery. Bribes are haram, yet some people claim if you go to certain countries around the world it is impossible for you to accomplish anything without bribing. To that I say: where is your dependence upon Allaah!? Many have still not made the connection between Allaah and their daily lives.

Allaah never burdens a soul more than it is capable. You don't have to have a nice house, you don't have to have a nice car, and you don't have to have higher education if you cannot afford it. The whole concept of "you are richer than you think" is what is getting a lot of people, and they just don't get it. You are not richer than you think, credit is not money, and interest is not ok.

Everything outside of the necessities is nice to have, but we don't overstep our boundaries and limits set by Allaah and His Messenger to achieve that which is not a necessity. And ultimately, if you want anything then ask Allaah sincerely and with true faith, believing that He can turn stone to gold, and He can cause diamonds to rain and He can do the impossible, all for that slave who will get down on his knees and beg of Allaah's mercy and forgiveness.

I ask Allaah subhanahu wa talaa to grant us what is best for us, and to grant us the proper understanding of this religion so that we may achieve everything that we desire in this world and the hereafter.

 

[Muhammad_fajr]

Using credit cards to withdraw money

Using credit cards to withdraw money​

This transaction is haraam, because it involves a commitment to pay ribaa (interest) if one does not pay within a certain time. This is an invalid commitment even if a person believes or thinks it most likely that he will pay before the time is up, because things may change and he may not be able to fulfil the commitment. This is a matter which has to do with the future and man does not know what will happen to him in the future. So this kind of transaction is haraam. And Allaah knows best.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen, Al-Da’wah magazine, issue # 1754, p. 37


But Having an interest-based credit card in cases of necessity

The basic principle is that interest-based transactions are haraam and it is not permissible to engage in them. This includes the conditions mentioned in the contracts for credit cards. In some countries they rely a great deal on these credit cards, and you can hardly find anyone who does not use them.

We put the following question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen:

Credit cards include conditions based on riba (interest/usury) – if you delay payments, they charge an extra penalty. But in the place where I live in America, I cannot rent a car or a shop or use many other services unless I have a credit card. If I do not use a credit card, I will suffer unbearable hardship. If I commit myself to make the payments within a certain time limit, so that I do not have to pay the interest charges, will this allow me to have a credit card and thus relieve some of the hardship I am facing?


The shaykh, may Allaah preserve him, answered as follows:
If the hardship he is facing is certain, and the likelihood that he will delay payments is remote, then I hope there is nothing wrong with him having the credit card.


Question:

Do the conditions relating to interest make a transaction invalid or not?
Answer:

If a contract contains an invalid condition, this does not invalidate the entire contract, for a number of reasons: (1) necessity, (2) because it does not really affect anything. The man thinks that he is going to make the payments before interest is due. Because this is more likely than the condition of having to pay interest, and because it is necessary – which is the main point – I hope that there is nothing wrong with it. We have a definite matter – necessity – and a matter which is not necessarily going to happen – which is delay in payment – and the matter that is definite takes precedence over something which may not even happen. And Allaah knows best.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen