#1194: Ruling on the Permissibility of Borrowing Credit from Network Providers
As-Salaamu Alaykum Warahmatullah
Question
Secondly, is it halaal to borrow credit from mtn, glo, etc. These two questions are causing confusion and generating heated argument in our area. We need your assistance. Jazaakallaahu khoiran
ANSWER:
Alhamdulillāh,
This matter is a very modern matter and about which the Ulamā have differed because of it’s similarity to a matter in Fiqh about which the Ulamā discussed in the past. And it is the ruling of Installmental Payments or the payment of more in future for goods delivered now.
It’s description: If you purchase Commodity A and pay for it now, you pay less. If you however decide that you’ll pay in Installments or pay at once but on a much later date, you’ll pay more than what you’d have paid right now.
There was a difference of opinion among the Fuqahā on this form of transaction but the stronger position is it’s permissibility IF the terms are clearly stated and the sums are stated and the agreed time is agreed upon. This aligns with the Sharī’ah Obligation of Nadhiratun Ilā Maysarah (Giving allowance to the one in Stringent Situation to the time of Ease).
We responded to this form of Question in Question 50 on our Telegram Channel that some of the Scholars today compare this permissibility to the matter under discussion.
But we stated that, in our own estimations, this comparison is not right. And this is because in the case of Installmental Payments which is permissible, good purchased is delivered now and payments made at appointed terms in intervals. Whereas in the matter under discussion, though good purchase (Airtime Credit) is delivered now, the cost of borrowing (10% or as the case may be) is taken out of the good (Airtime) credited now. So, contrary to the matter to which it is compared, airtime delivered is less than airtime purchased because the cost is deducted upfront from the airtime itself.
If it is said, the amount deducted from the airtime is the first installment in the payment and the next installment is when the buyer gets an airtime recharge, We say: The Ruling of Installment payments assented to by the Fuqahā encompasses payment made not a reduction in the item negotiated for.
Another divergence between the matter under discussion and that of Installment payments is that the Fuqahā accepted Installmental Payments only when the terms and conditions of the Contract is clearly stated, and the period of payment is clearly stated in such a way that the buyer pays for it at an appointed and agreed time by both parties. In the matter under discussion, this is not the case as there is no appointed term nor agreement to such from both parties.
These are reasons for which, in our estimations, this kind of transaction should be avoided in totality.
We are aware that some consider it permissible, it is a clearly modern matter about which differences in perception are expected. But we remind you of the Hadīth of the Rasūl Salallāhu Alayhi Wasallam:
دَعْ مَا يَرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لَا يَرِيبُكَ ، فَإِنَّ الصِّدْقَ طُمَأْنِينَةٌ ، وَإِنَّ الْكَذِبَ رِيبَةٌ
“Abandon that which puts you in doubt to that which does not put you in doubt for Truth gives tranquility (to the heart) and Falsehood is uncertainty”
As was recorded by Imām Ahmad, Abū Īsah At-Tirmidhī and Ibn Hibbān from Al-Hasan bn ‘Alī radiyallāhu ‘anhumā
Can’t you see that the Ulamā in their commentary on this Hadīth were clear on the importance of a Believer staying away from matters which are doubtful and about which the Heart of the Believer is not at rest due to its unclarity and ambiguity?
May Allāh grant Tawfīq to us and you, Āmīn
Jazakumullāhu Khayran
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