#1133: The Ruling Of Loans Taken Without Knowledge That They Were Interest Based
“Assalamu alaykum. Please what do I do in this situation. I engaged in a Federal Government Borrowing without knowledge from me that it is Riba Based. What do I do now? Should I give it to a Kaafir to make us of?”
ANSWER:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بخير إلى يوم الدين و بعد
Assalamu Alaykum Warahmatullah Wabarakaatuh.
May Allah’s endless love and favors be upon you and your family and grant you a Guidance that knows no straying and a steadfastness that knows no deviation, amin.
Then, I seek your forgiveness for the delay in responding to you in writing. This is caused only by the weakness of my soul and the sinfulness of my ways for it is known, as Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah mentioned, that sins and transgression kill the will power and weaken the resolve of the Believer, please ask for me that Allah pardons my ways and grant forgiveness to me, amin.
As for what follows, know, may Allah be pleased with you, that it is not permissible for any Believer to involve in anything until he knows the Hukm of Allah on that thing and it is Waajib to ask those possess of Knowledge who have combined the knowledge of the reality of the matter under finding and the Hukm of the Shariah on matters related to that finding because Allah has commanded this in the Qur’an, Alhamudlillah. This is known.
Therefore it is highly wrong of you to engage in this borrowing program without firstly understanding the program and comprehending the details and requirements thereof. Nobody in the modern world dishes out loans of such magnitude without hoping to thereby gain some amount over it, whether government or individual. This is a known thing in the world as we live in it today. They build their humanitarian support on margins that can be gained and weigh them based on the amount of returns that can come out of them.
That said, we ask Allah for support and aid, amin. It is known in the Shar’iah that Allah does not hold a person accountable for something he is unaware of. It is a matter of agreement among the Fuqahaa. Ibn Shaat mentioned this in his Haashiyah: Idraaru Ash-Shuruq ‘Ala Anwaa’i Al-Furuq
The proof of this, Allah said in Suratu Al-Ahzaab:
وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ فِيمَا أَخْطَأْتُمْ بِهِ وَلَكِنْ مَا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا
“And there is no blame on you in that which you erred but you are responsible for that which your hearts intended and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful”.
And the Rasul salallahu alayhi wasallam said in the Hadith that was recorded by Ibn Maajah:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ تَجَاوَزَ عَنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَطَأَ، وَالنِّسْيَانَ، وَمَا اسْتُكْرِهُوا عَلَيْهِ
“Indeed Allah has overlooked for my Ummah that which they did in error, that which they forgot and that upon which they were compelled ”
Shaykh Abdurrahman As-Sa’adi rahimahullah said in the Irshaad:
“And this is generic on that about which the Believers have done in error among the physical deeds and those that are said”
Thus while you have been wrong in engaging in such borrowings without finding out, your falling into that which is Interest-Based is forgiven Insha Allah based on the forgoing, and Allah knows best.
As for the Capital that was gotten through this means, then our response to this is in the following ways:
One, if it is possible to return it to the source, then this is the right thing to do without a doubt. If it is possible to step out of this scheme immediately then this is what is Compulsory upon you to do without a doubt .
Two, if this is not possible, then it is permissible for you to go ahead and use it insha Allah. If you say, how is that, then we say:
There is difference between the Capital and the Interest in the matter of Riba and the Fuqahaa have differentiated between them. This is the reason for which Allah permitted the one who lends money and benefits from Riba to collect only his Capital when he repents because there is no affecting of the Capital by virtue of the Interest. The capital remains Halaal even if he has by its means oppressed the borrowers by collecting some interest from them.
In the Shariah there is nothing against borrowing of money thus there is nothing wrong with using the money you have already borrowed provided you are not able to pull out of this agreement once you have entered it.
The Fuqahaa also differentiated between that which is Haraam by itself and that which is Haraam by its earning.
The example of the first is the one who robs, the example of the second is the one who deals in Riba.
They agreed that the wealth that is Haraam in itself is Haraam for both the Possessor and the one who is given but that the wealth that is Haraam only by way of its earning is Haraam only on its possessor. Shaykh Al-Uthaymin mentioned this in his Fataawah, rahimahumullaah.
And you have realised in what has preceded that this means of earning is Haraam but we consider it forgiven because it was done in error and ignorance then it is OK to benefit from the Capital that was borrowed. Then, in this case, it is not permissible for you to pay them the capital together with the Interest when paying back because Allah only ordained the borrower to pay the lender what they borrowed and not the interest. He said:
وَإِنْ تُبْتُمْ فَلَكُمْ رُؤُوسُ أَمْوَالِكُمْ لَا تَظْلِمُونَ وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَ
“And when you repent then you have only right to take the Capital in your wealth, you shall not oppress and you shall not be oppressed”
But if they compel you to pay back the Interest and you have no way to avoid it, then you should go ahead and pay them provided it was compelled on you.
The summary of what we have said above is as follows:
1. To borrow money from a source that deals with Interest is Haraam by consensus. It’s description is any transaction that guarantees any percentage on the Capital. Ibn Al-Mundhir mentioned this in the Ijmaa’.
2. It is Haraam to engage in anything as a Muslim without finding out its Ruling in the Shariah and understanding its implication because Allah has created us only for Ibaadah.
3. It is a concensus among Fuqahaa that what they have done in error or by mistake or in ignorance is forgiven provided it is excusable and bears no traces of deliberate doing. Ibn Shaat mentioned that in the Haashiyah.
4. Based on the forgoing it is permissible to make use of the Capital that was received from a Riba-Based borrowing that was done in error but Haraam to pay back the Interest unless under duress and inability to escape from that.
5. That duress is permissible based on the Injunctions of the Shariah that allows for Takhfif Isqaat (A suspension of a ruling due to necessity of situation) during places of difficulty like the matter of Makhmasah (starvation in the presence of Haraam food).
6. The permissibity of making use of the Capital is prefixed on the differentiation between the Capital itself and the Interest that ensues upon it. Were there to be no difference then Allah would not have allowed for the taking of the Capital by the Lenders who are repenting from Riba.
7. In its regard Allah said
فَمَنْ جَاءَهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ فَانْتَهَى فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
“To whomsoever then the admonition has come from his Lord, then he desists, he shall have what has already passed, and his affair is in the hands of Allah; and whoever returns (to it)– these are the inmates of the fire; they shall abide in it.”
8. Shaykhu Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah said in Majmuu’u Al-Fataawah:
“For the Muslims whenever they contract a transaction between them about which they did not know the permissibility or impermissibility thereof, the Fuqahaa all of them, based on what I know, consider it sound and OK, provided they did not know it to be Haraam… And nobody has said that the condition for the soundness of a Contract is the certainty of the Contracting parties that it is permissible…” 29/159.
9. This position that we have held is the Fatwah of most of the Fuqahaa in this era to our knowledge.
10. If you say, why not render the Capital to a Kaafir to make use of and also pay the interest? Then we say, this does not reduce the problem, rather it increases it. Because in the doing of that is financially propelling the Kaafir in these eras where Kuffaar have been dominating us and becoming much more economically viable than us. Muslims Should not support the kuffar economically in the least.
Also because, if your reason for not wanting to use it is because you consider it a sin, then in handing it over to someone else is a sin also because being an accessory to committance of a sin is same as committing the sin, even greater…
And Allah knows best.
Barakallahu Fikum
Jazakumullahu Khayran.
Abū Āsim
23rd Dhu Al-Qa’adah, 1442AH.
📚 IslāmNode
