Debts Destroy Goodwill
The prophet (peace be upon him) was asked to lead a funeral prayer. He (peace be upon him) inquired if the deceased had any debts. The people replied that the deceased had debts. The prophet (peace be upon him) questioned if the deceased had left any assets that could be used repay to the debts. The people replied in the negative. The prophet (peace be upon him) remarked “In this situation please conduct his funeral prayer!”. When Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) understood the situation he said “O prophet of Allah, I take the responsibility of repaying the debts of the deceased.” Only after this did the Prophet (peace be upon him) come forward to lead the funeral prayer.
In another narration it has been narrated the prophet (peace be upon him) said “O Ali, may the Almighty God protect you from hellfire! On the day of Hereafter, the Almighty God will not stay without freeing a Muslim who repays the debts of his Muslim brother ”
Currently the world’s economy is taking a downturn. They call it a melting down. Many banks are closing. Establishments that are hundreds of years old are winding up. One of the significant reasons for this is greed. Many banks lent money because of their focus on the interest that they would be receiving. By doing this the banks have sunk and have also drowned the people.
On the contrary, the principles of Islamic banking would not have created this upheaval. Islamic banking looks at the bank’s customers as shareholders who need to be given profit share. Islamic banking is founded on principles of sincerity, God consciousness and conscience. The main motto of Islamic banking is “Do not collect interest …Do not pay interest ” It can be seen that this Islamic principle doesn’t let a person face any difficulty even if there’s an economic upheaval. The fee a borrower pays to a lender to borrow money is interest. It is called Riba in Islamic terminology. This is forbidden by Islamic religion.
The Holy Quran has declared “God has permitted business. But He has forbidden interest ”.
The economic meltdown affected not only Dubai but also India. India’s open economic policy was the reason for this difficulty. But Malaysia wasn’t affected as much because more than 60% of Malaysian banks follow the Islamic principles of banking. They do not lend haphazardly because their customers are not merely their clients but their shareholders. Rules have to be followed; rules cannot be compromised because of profitability.
If we follow a similar discipline in our lives, we can progress in our lives. We can avoid unnecessary debts and do what is essential. In my perspective I am not greedy to take loans to fuel my growth; I only take loans when it is absolutely unavoidable. And that too only when I need to avoid delays in repaying money to others. Also, I try and repay my loans at the earliest. Sometimes within days.
As Islam has insisted on debt repayment and interest free financial activities we must try to follow these principles. And if we transgress without any control( may Allah forgive our transgressions) it will lead to destruction. When we take loans from commercial banks because of our greed to grow, we will be finally drowned in our loans. We will not be in peace when we can’t repay the loans. We all be carrying the boulder of loans on our heads.
A humorous incident that happened. our milkman ‘s wallet fell down. Inside it were more than 10 credit cards. When I asked him “Why have you got so many credit cards ...?” He replied “When and where did I get them!? The bank guys came home, and they push me to get them!” If we are like this milk man taking out credit cards simply because the banks are promoting them it is going to be create difficulties.
There’s nothing wrong in having debit cards. What money is there in the account is what can be spent using a debit card. But credit card can be called a sweet poison. When the person who sells a credit card comes to our house he talks to us with respect; when we are unable to repay the loan, they send bouncers to threaten us. We lose our honour and dignity.
We need to avoid taking commercial loans as much as possible. If at all we do take loans it must be within our financial limits and repaid in a planned manner without delays. May Allah protect us from debts.
A debt free life is a peaceful
life.
Understanding debt and interest
is a rung to developing business.
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