Question:

Me and my husband have been alhamdullilah Been married for 4 years now. But from Knowledge he ( my husband) has been Indebted to banks before getting married And also after marriage both of us have been taking loans for various reasons. Although we know that interest is haram we had been indulging in it as we could see no other resort out of the situation. But alhamdullilah we are in much better Position now and we would like to cleanse ourselves of this sin. Plz could you advise Us Around this matter inshallah

Answer:

As-salāmu ‘Alaykum Wa-rahmatullāhi Wa-barakātuh.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

We apologize for the belated response.

It is very encouraging to see you and your husband’s yearning to turn your lives towards Halal and Tayyab income. May Allah Ta’ala give you both the ability to see right from wrong and ability to follow suit in achieving that right.

Allah Ta’ala is merciful beyond bounds. While we slip up at times, commit sins in ignorance and break the commandments of our true lord, Allah, He continues to keep the doors of repentance open for us. The only condition is that we pause, desist and make a complete U-turn from whatever wrong we are engaged in.

When a person takes up a road to travel to one’s destination, and on the way he gets lost for one reason or the other, it does not then mean that he is forever lost. Indeed he can amend his route and start his journey towards his desired goal. In the like manner, a Muslim too can realize that he has lost himself from the path dictated by Allah Ta’ala and then amend his ways to turn back to the true destination whereby he will attain the pleasure and happiness of Allah. Now that you and your husband have decided to repent and amend your ways, it is incumbent that you understand this institution of “Tawbah” (repentance).

Your matter is no different either; however I advise you to make a firm resolution and start working towards relieving yourself from the filth of interest and all such wealth which is tainted with interest.

• Instill the hatred for such a wealth in your heart to create a sincere remorse towards the act.
• Read two rakah salah and ask Allah to forgive you for the transgression on your part.
• While you read these two rak’āt try to cry as much as you can. If you cannot cry, then at least make an effort for it. Realize that Allah Ta’ala has declared war with those who are involved with the filth of interest. This will help you attain sincerity in your repentance.
• Now make practical measures to get out of such debts. This includes taking complete account of your debts, credits dues and cash inflows. Only after realizing the facts surrounding your monetary standing will you be able to make a judgment call.
• Once you have seen an overview of your loans, see if you can find someone to offer you an interest free loan for a year or six months. Use this money to pay out all your interest bearing loans. If such a loan cannot be secured then increase the amount of your payment on the loans to rid yourself of it as soon as possible. The idea is to utilize any means possible to become free from interest.
• After having done the above make a firm resolution to never ever go back towards interest again. Moreover, the resolution itself is not sufficient; you need to practically prevent yourself from engaging in any form of interest bearing transaction. This is an obligation for all Muslims.

After all the above, if some remorse and sadness lingers in your heart, then that is a desired state. This discomfort in the heart is the sign that Iman is still fresh in the heart. Every time such remorse overtakes your emotion, renew your repentance. This will become a means of your closeness to Allah and through this closeness it will become easier for you to distance yourself from interest bearing transactions.

I also advise you to keep a check on yourself. If you slip up anytime in future after having made firm resolve, then as soon as you realize this mistake, renew your repentance by following the above steps.

Finally, I advise you to keep reading up ways to make your life style more Islamic. Read up on Islamic articles, guidelines and ways to improve your financial conditions while staying within the guidelines of Islam. Recently an article was prepared by Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah about “Debt Management”. I attach an excerpt of that article below and advise you to read up the whole article in your free time.

“Hereunder are some basic debt management tops to help us fulfill the rights of creditors and aid us in keeping our debts in order as well:

• A person should avoid taking a loan at all costs. Debt is a burden which has the potential to torment one in his life time, and his heirs after death.
• When deciding to take up a loan, one should ascertain the needs and try to fulfill these needs through any surplus money one has. If one has no choice but to take the loan then only borrow an amount required to fulfill those needs.
• Evaluate and keep a record of one’s assets. This value helps in knowing the limits of one’s financial worth.
• In order to keep afloat the credit burden, set a limit of debt-to-asset ratio. A comfortable limit is usually 50%. This means one should not undertake a debt more than the 50% worth of his assets. This way, in the worst case scenario, one can still sell off the assets to cover for the debt.
• Keep a rigorous account of financial matters. It is our nature to forget our debts. Hence writing it down will help in tracking the rights of creditors. Constantly review this journal.
• Avoid all interest bearing transaction. It will ruin the spiritual worth of all the assets and drag a person into poverty.
• If one has a credit card then assure to pay all the payments in time to avoid any interest. If one does not need a credit card, then one should not keep one.
• Undertake a loan with an honest intention of paying off. Hoodwinking a creditor may earn some pennies and nickels, but at the cost of displeasure of Allah.
• The creditor has the right to demand the loaned amount, even if it means he has to treat the debtor harshly. So one should not put oneself in a position where the honor is jeopardized. Pay out or make alternative arrangements.
• If one’s repayment schedule is being disturbed due to the expenses of the lifestyle one has, then do not be ashamed to lower the lifestyle and live more simply. It is worth it!
• Continue a close watch on all related materials on debt management, debt consolidation and debt hedging to avoid any debt crisis.” [1]

I make a sincere du’a that Allah accept your repentance and make you one of His most beloved slaves. Allah Ta’ala says,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِينَ [البقرة: 222]

Indeed Allah loves those who repent. (Qur’an 2:122)

And Rasulullah salallahu ῾alayhi wasallam has said,

كُلُّ بَنِي آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ، وَخَيْرُ الْخَطَّائِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ

Every son of Adam is a sinner, and the best of
those who sin are the ones who repent the most.[2]

And Allah Ta’ala Knows Best

Mufti Faisal bin Abdul Hameed,
Montréal, Canada
www.fatwa.ca

Checked and Concurred by,
Mufti Luqman Hansrot
Fatwa Dept.
www.efiqh.com