Interest based Student loans are Haraam

Auto-generated transcript:In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the honour of the prophets and messengers. Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and upon his family and companions. Tasliman kathiran kathira. My brothers and sisters, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us about the purpose of our creation. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us about why He created us. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, وَمَا أَخَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونَ مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُمْ بِالرِّزْقِ وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينَ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, And I, Allah alone, created not the jinn and the humans except that they should worship me. That means, I have not created them for any purpose other than that they should worship me. I do not seek any provision from them, that is provision for themselves or for my creatures, nor do I ask that they should feed me, that is feed themselves or my creatures. Verily Allah is the All-Provider, the Owner of Power and Most Strong. If you look at the grammar of the last ayah, إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينَ You will see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has emphasized the fact that He is our Raziq six times. And finally in the last word of the ayah, He jalla jallahu invokes His own power, قُوَّةِ الْمَتِينَ to allay our anxiety about our sustenance. The issue is not His ability to provide but our faith. My brothers and sisters, my sisters, the thing to understand very clearly is that there can be no benefit in whatever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala prohibited and there can be no harm in what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala permitted. This is the lesson that the Sahaba, Ridwanullahi alaihi majma'in, learned so well. They didn't try to balance anything. We talk about balance between deen and dunya. Deen is the way of living in the dunya. There's no question of balance. Deen is the way in which, according to which if we live in the dunya, then we will have a beautiful life in this world and in the hereafter. The Sahaba didn't balance anything. They simply chose to obey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala without question. The only question they asked Rasulullah s.a.w., whenever a command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was revealed, was how should we do this? They never asked why should we do this? That is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave them control over their world. See the environment. I want to talk about one particular command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, which is the banning of interest-based dealings. But before we go to the command, let's see the environment in which the command was given. The people of Makkah were mainly traders because Makkah has no industry or large-scale agriculture. They traded in the markets in Byzantium and Yemen, which were in Roman and Persian hands respectively. For this, they had a highly developed banking system, one of the mainstays of which was interest-based lending. They used various banking instruments, which had been in use in Roman Persia for a thousand years before Rasulullah s.a.w. was born. All the businessmen in Makkah were traders. Makkah used this system. And several, including al-Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib, and al-Anhu were bankers, with perhaps thousands of clients. It was in this context that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala prohibited the backbone of this whole system, which is interest-based lending and borrowing. Not only did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ban it, but he also declared war on the one who wouldn't leave it after the revelation of the ayah, after the ban. And neither did he offer an alternative to the system. Sometimes people ask this question and they say, if we leave this, what is the alternative? Give us the alternative first, then we will leave it. But that is not how the Sahaba saw it. They simply obeyed. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not explain the reasons for the ban. He simply banned it. Allah said, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تَقُوا اللَّهَ وَذَرُوا مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الرِّبَاءِ إِن كُنتُم مُؤْمِنِينَ فَإِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلُوا فَأَذَنُوا بِحَرْبٍ مِّنْ تَفْعَالُونَ Allah and His Messenger. And if you repent, then you will have the heads of your ancestors. Do not be wronged or be wronged. Allah said, O believers, fear Allah and give up outstanding interest if you are true believers. It's a conditional ayah. Prove that you are believers by giving up interest. If you are true believers. If you do not do this, then take a declaration of war with Allah and His Rasool Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. But if you repent, you may retain your principal amounts. Do no wrong and you will not be wronged. For anyone looking for a reason or explanation, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala declared, الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَاءَ لَا يَقُومُوا إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُوا الَّذِينَ لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُوا الَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسْ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ مِثْلُ الْرِبَاءِ وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعُ وَحَرَّمَ الْرِبَاءِ فَمَنْ جَاءَهُ مَعِزَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ فَانْتَهَا فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفْ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ أَسْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَارِضُ Allah said those who consume interest who deal in interest will stand on judgment day on day of judgment like those driven to madness by shaitan's touch that is because they say trade is like interest based dealing trade is no different from interest but you can see the command of the see the the magnificence of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah is not giving a reason Allah is saying the reason is that Allah commanded it but Allah has permitted trading and forbidden interest أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيَا مُحَرَّمَ الرِّبَى you want a reason the command of Allah is the reason there has to be there is no need for a reason for the command the command is the reason whoever refrains meaning whoever stops dealing in interest lending and borrowing on interest after having received the warning from their Rabb may keep their previous gains and their case is left to Allah as for those who persist it is they who will be the residents of the fire they will be there forever now tell me what bigger warning do you and I need Allah is saying those who deal in interest even after it has been prohibited and even after they know about this prohibition who continue to deal in interest will be the residents of the fire and they will be there forever what is a bigger warning than this there is no room for maneuvering no ifs and buts just a divine command that says do this or else the command affected every trader and consumer the amazing thing is how Allah answered the statement of some people that interest is like trade Allah simply said Allah has permitted trade and prohibited interest that's it and that's enough for us today we talk about we talk about student loans for example in America and there are people who say well you see we live in the west and student loans education is so expensive so without taking a loan a person cannot study and they need to study and therefore a loan is permissible in this economy in this country I remind myself and you that Allah SWT did not send us to the United States into this world to adjust to haram systems Allah sent us to change haram systems Allah SWT said Allah said you are the best of people and you have been sent for the benefit of people and the job you do is that you order and command that which is good and promote it and you prohibit that which is evil and you also refrain from it obviously and you have faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is the purpose of why we have been sent. We were not sent to adjust to haram systems. We were not sent with the intent with the thing to say well you see if that is the system because you live in this country now we will change this law this law doesn't apply to you. Where is the when you are talking about changing a hukum of the Quran where is the question of yes where is the question of individual or collective reasoning to nullify the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And my question a related question is that if we use this argument of the law needs to change because we live in the west because we we live in a place where we cannot follow the law therefore change the law then there is it completely opens the door to change everything about Islam. Then why should I pray five times a day? It's not convenient. So why don't I pray just five but just when I get home in the night just one prayer. Why must I pray why must I have Jumaa? Why must we all collect in the masjid in Jumaa? Friday is not a you know it's not a day off. Why don't we have Jumaa salah on Sunday for example because Sundays are off right. I mean I can I can go on ad infinitum about all the different things in Islam which whether it is dress code whether it is you know we will name it right. Why for any of these? So you might say well you know you're changing something because what's the difference between Jumaa and Jumaa? You know you're changing one or two things. But that doesn't change anything. That doesn't change anything. That doesn't doesn't suit our present day conditions. This is the biggest type of shaitan. And that is the argument that somehow your location or time of being changes the law of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Today, people who should know better, they talk about how some law of Islam needs to be different for Muslims living in the West. And there are compliant ulama who are ready to issue fatawa to accommodate this faulty reasoning. However, when we encounter such fatawa, ask two questions. First question, did Allah know the future when he ordained the law? Now, I don't think I need to answer that question. If you say no, then it's a different issue, right? Did Allah know the future when he ordained the law? Ask this question. It's our fundamental lakheedah,