Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon Muhammad, His last Messenger, his household, his Companions and all those who follow him till the Last Day. This edition of an-Naseehah dwells on the punishment that comes with the consumption of ribaa, but it is an edition for warning against ribaa and not one for providing an alternative to it.
Why is this relevant now? Simply because the world is touting that the solution to the massive economic meltdown that was caused by ribaa and greed is.... wait for it ..... more and more ribaa loans to the people of the world! In one word, you are the target of the impending wave of mindless and godless lending that will begin to sweep through the world shortly as part of the so-called recovery plan.
Do Not Be a Spendthrift
Should you be part of such short-term recovery that will birth long-term pains in the near future? Before you make up your mind, better to dwell on this advice from Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen (RAH) who over a decade ago said inter-alia "likewise one can be a spendthrift concerning vehicles. A person from the middle or lower class buys a luxurious car for example, because his neighbour or his peer at school and so on has one.
Especially now since this door has been opened, which we ask Allaah to shut; the door of making payments in installments. In reality, it is a form of trickery towards the Lord of the worlds. It is very harmful to a countrys economy and the liability of its people. It became easy for even the poor vagabond to take loans in this method. He goes to the businessman and tells him he wants to buy the most luxurious of cars, the businessman buys it and then sells it to him with interest. The businessman does not buy the car for himself, he only buys it to sell it to him in this manner, otherwise, he would never have bought it.
As for their claim that they are not forcing anyone to accept this agreement, meaning that if the businessman buys the car he does not force the ones borrowing the money to accept it, then this is not applicable upon anybody, it is just argumentation. This is not the case in reality, because no one buys a car in this manner, or cement or steel to build a home, and then later returns and changes his mind, this is farfetched, if it does happen then it is one case in a thousand.
All of this is a form of trickery towards the Lord of the worlds, and from Allaah alone we seek refuge, and Allaah knows best. I do not claim to see the future, nor do I claim to be a prophet, but these people, their wealth will end up in bankruptcy.
Those who attempt to be deceptive towards the Lord of the worlds, the Mighty and Majestic, those who are holding the servants of Allaah in liabilities by this method, Allaah knows best, their wealth will end up in bankruptcy ..." And a word is truly enough for the faithful and wise. In the heat of the meltdown, May Allaah keep us firm, protect us from greed and covetousness and grant us qanaa’ah [contentment].
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited