CHAPTER SEVEN
RIBA AND THE LAW OF NECESSITY
The argument has been raised
by some that the law of dire necessity (idtirar) is applicable, in so far as
the prohibition of riba is concerned, for Muslims resident in
North America.
What the doctrine states is
that the shariah makes allowance for exceptional situations where an
enforcement of a prohibition would neither be humane or just. Such, for example,
is the case of the prohibition of the consumption of pork. If a Muslim is starving
to death and the only food available which can be consumed for saving his life
is pork, he is permitted to eat that pork, which otherwise remains prohibited,
for the purpose of staying alive.
The Qur’an addresses the
issue in a number of separate passages:
Forbidden
for you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that an which
has been invoked the name of other than Allah . . . but If any is forced by
hunger, with no inclination to transgression (and not making it a habit), then
surely Allah is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.
(Qur’an:- 5.4)
Say: I
find not in the Message received by me through revelation any (meal) forbidden
to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it, unless it be dead meat, or blood
poured forth, or the flesh of swine, - for it is an abomination - or what is
impious, (meat) on which a name has been invoked, other than Allah’s. But (even
so), if a person is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, nor
transgressing due limits - (and not making it a habit) thy Lord is
Oft-Forgiving. Most Merciful.
(Qur’an.- 6:145)
Why
should you not eat (meats) over which Allah's Name has been pronounced, when He
has explained to you in detail what He has forbidden for you - except under
compulsion of necessity? But many do mislead (men) by their appetites unchecked
by knowledge. Thy Lord knows best those who transgress.
(Qur’an:- 6:119)
He has
only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that on
which any other name has been invoked besides that of Allah. But if one is
forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits,
- then he is guiltless. For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
(Qur’an;-2:173)
The law of necessity can be
considered to be applicable in North America, in so far as the prohibition of riba
is concerned, only after the Muslim community has made its best collective
effort to demonstrate that an alternative economic life is possible, and has
failed in that effort. A Muslim may then he permitted to enter into riba
if he can demonstrate the existence of an urgent compelling basic need of life
which requires urgent satisfaction and which cannot be satisfied without
entering into riba. What can such a need be?
Most Muslims in North
America who enter into riba do so for the purpose of buying a
house in which they would reside. Clearly, the argument to which they resort is
that shelter in the form of a home, is a basic human need. Such Muslims should
pause to consider that undeniable fact that it is possible to rent a house in
North America, and that such a rented house can satisfy the need for shelter.
Millions of non-Muslim Americans live in rented homes, - why can't Muslims?
There is, in fact, no excuse for a Muslim to enter into riba for
the purpose of buying a house in which to reside, when it is possible for him
to rent such a house.
The argument may be raised
by some that there is greater security in owning a home than in renting one.
That is surely a valid argument. And it is that very need to own a home which
is exploited by the riba -based economy to spread its poisonous
tentacles. In fact it is sometimes far more difficult and expensive to own a
home through borrowing on interest, than through abstaining from borrowing on
interest and availing instead of a rent and purchase partnership agreement for
eventually owning a home.
When you buy a house through
a bank loan you pay about 30-40% more in price than if you had rented the same
house and, while renting, purchased it over the same period of time, interest-free,
with the same schedule of payments (minus interest), such a purchase agreement
would take the form of shirkah (partnership) in which the buyer and seller of
the house would enter into a partnership through which the buyer progressively
acquires the sellers equity until he acquires full ownership.
Buying a house with a bank
(housing) loan and mortgage has a number of disadvantages:
1. The Muslim will violate
the law prohibiting riba.
2. He will pay an extra 30-40%
more than he would pay through renting and buying through shirkah.
3. He will enter into a
long-term debt. Anyone who studies the economic Sunnah as it pertains to debt
would understand that it is both very foolish and very dangerous, in addition
to being a violation of the economic Sunnah, for a Muslim to enter into
long-term debt.
4. Death can take place at
anytime. A Muslim who dies with a debt (and a bank loan is a debt), and without
the means to pay off the debt, will die a death in which the Prophet (s)
himself would refuse to pray the salatul janazah over his body!
5. A Muslim who dies with
such a debt will burden his family with such debt. If his widowed wife and
orphan children fail to keep up with the monthly payments, and that is always
possible, the bank will foreclose on the property. When that happens then not
only will that family be without a home at a time when they most need it but, worse
still, they cart be cheated out of whatsoever equity they possessed in the
house. Banks assign a high percentage of each installment towards paying
interest. In the first five years of a twenty-year loan of $100,000 with an
installment of say, $3,000 a month, only $1,000 out of $I2,000 in annual
payments may he credited towards the repayment of the principal sum borrowed.
After five years and after he has paid $60,000 in instalments. Only $5.000 of
that would have been credited towards the repayment of the principal sum borrowed.
So, in five years, he would have paid $55,000 in interest, in addition to which
he paid property taxes for a house he did not own (the bank owned it), in
addition to which he was responsible for the maintenance and repairs of the property,
in addition to which he had to pay insurance for a property which he did not
own (the bank owned it). On top of all of that, the bank now informs his
widowed wife that the property (on which it has foreclosed) will have to be
sold in order to recover the. $95,000 still outstanding on the loan. The bank
sells the property for $80.000 in a ‘sweetheart’ deal and then bills his
widowed wife for $5,000 still outstanding on the loan - and this takes place
after the family has already paid $60,000 in installments on a $100,000 loan?
This practice is constantly occurring.
6. A Muslim who enters into
a long-term debt may never be able to perform the hajj with any confidence that
his hajj will be accepted by Allah, the Most High, The Prophet (s)
declared that it was an act of dhulm (wickedness and injustice)
that one who had the means to pay a debt (or even part of a debt) should delay
in paying it.
But let us suppose that a
Muslim has persuaded himself, with a fatwa from some misguided Shaikh
who is on the payroll of an equally misguided government, that the law of
necessity applies in so far as housing is concerned, and that he is permitted
to take a bank loan on interest for the purpose, of buying a house. The
question is, what kind of house can he buy? The principle is that he should
partake of the minimum amount of pork needed to keep body and soul together.
When applied to housing the principle would be that he should buy the smallest
and least expensive house which can satisfy the need for shelter. Muslims are
not doing that!
How small can a house be, if
it is to satisfy the need for shelter? The Qur’an informs us that we have the
best model or example in the Messenger of Allah, the Most High. And the homes
which he provided for his wives, which is where he himself dwelled, were quite
small. Some idea of how small they were can be glimpsed in this hadith:
Abu Salaam
narrated that Aisha, the wife of the Prophet said: I used to sleep in front of
Allah's Messenger, and my legs were opposite his Qiblah. While prostrating he
would nudge my legs and I would withdraw them. Then when he stood up l would
stretch out (my legs). Aisha added: In those days the houses were without
light.
(Bukhari)
Secondly, people should not
become prisoners of houses. They should be able to travel through Allah's earth
when they feel the need to do so. And so, sometimes, one needs a home which one
can take with him when he travels. The American Indians lived very happy and
contented lives in tents made of live skins of animals. And lest anyone
complain that space would be too small or that house too flimsy for civilized
living, let us recall the verse of the Qur’an in which Allah the Most High,
speaks of homes as places of rest and quiet and then goes on to speak of homes
made of animal skins.
It is
Allah who has granted you houses as homes in which to live (in a state of rest
and quiet). And has granted you the skins of livestock (to make) houses which
you find so light (and handy) on the day when you pack them up to move
elsewhere, and on the day when you come to a halt. From their wool, their fur
and their hair come furnishings and commodities for a while.
(Qur’an 16:80)
to be continued . . . .
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