Usury :- the activity of lending someone money with the agreement that they will payback a very much larger amount of money later.
DEALING IN RIBA (USURY/INTEREST) IS A MAJOR SIN IN ISLAM.
Allowing Riba (Interest-Usury) because of necessity?!
Riba (Usury) :- When luxuries are involved, what is Haram will always remain Haram, necessities do not make it Halal.
The only time a necessity makes a Haram thing Halal is when it is a matter of life or death, but never for luxurious purposes. Example: a person who is starving and has nothing to eat except dead meat, then it is allowed for him to eat only to the extent that he can sustain his life.
But unfortunately, there are people :-
Who allow mortgages and student loans – from banks or other institutions – because they claim that it is a necessity, as not everyone can afford to purchase a house or pay the tuition fees without these loans. This is a futile argument.
Allowing such loans because of necessity is like allowing fornication for those who cannot afford to marry.
Taking Riba – Interest (Usury) based loans :
(whatever form they come in: either student loans, car loans, home loans etc.) is like fighting a war which one has lost.
Taking interest based loans is not only a sin, but it is a waging war against Allah and His Messenger, which one will never win.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ وَذَرُوا مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الرِّبَا إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ * فَإَََََََََََََََََََََََََََِِِِِِِِِِِِّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّّ
{O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah and give up what remains (due to you) from Riba (usury) (from now onward), if you are (really) believers. And if you don’t do it, then take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger} [Surah al-Baqarah (2): 278-279]
Riba (Usury) is Haram in whatever form it exists and wherever it is done –
Be it in the West or in the East and there are clear warnings against this sin.
One such example is the saying of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: ❝There are seventy degrees of usury, the least of which is equivalent to a man having intercourse with his mother.❞ [Sunan Ibn Maajah (2274) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]
Riba (Usury) is forbidden according to the Qur’aan and Sunnah in Islam:
And definitive scholarly consensus. Whoever regards it as permissible is a kaafir, because the basic principle is that whoever rejects something on which there is an apparent scholarly consensus is guilty of kufr.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The belief that the well-known obligations are obligatory and that the well-known prohibitions are forbidden is one of the most important basic principles of faith, and the one who rejects that is a kaafir according to scholarly consensus.
Majmoo ‘al-Fataawa, 12/497.
✳ Allah’s Apostle (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
“May Allah curse him who eats of usury or feeds it to another.” [Sahih Muslim]
The prohibition regarding usury is for both accepting it (eating of it) as well as paying it (feeding another with it). “Curse (la’n)” means to put someone far from divine mercy.
Usury is usually translated as “interest”.
This includes both simple and compound interest. Dealing in usury is one of the kaba’ir (enormities) as it is accursed by Allah’s Messenger in the above hadith, and also carries the threat of punishment in the Hereafter
In the words of Allah (subhana wa ta’ala):
“O you who believe: fear of Allah and forgo what remains of usury (usury) if you are believers. If you will not, then know of a declaration of war (against you) from Allah and His Messenger. “[Quran 2: 278-79]
If Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) and His Messenger come armed to wage war against a person on the Day of Judgment, does he / she stand a chance?
The prohibition regarding usury also extends to those who write up transactions involving usury or act as witnesses to such transactions, based on the following hadith: “The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) cursed whoever eats of usury, feeds another with it , writes an agreement involving it, or acts as a witness to it. “[Sahih Muslim]
And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
Before the advent of the Hour, Ribaa (usury), Zina (fornication) and Khamr (intoxicants) will become widespread. [See al-Saheehah (3415/2) of Shaikh al-Albaanee and Saheeh al-Targheeb (1861) and graded as “Saheeh li ghairihee” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]
