The final instructions in Surah al-Baqarah include the warning against Riba (thirty-eighth ruku (ayaat 274-281)). The following are excerpts from that ruku:
...
...
Allah & His Messenger have declared a war against those who consume Riba. Those who believe therefore rightly worry about the financial system in their countries, where the modern banking system is well-entrenched in their economy, and thus, directly or indirectly, everyone is affected by the interest-based transactions. The lack of earnestness on part of the leadership to govern according to Divine Decrees makes matters worse. For example, Pakistan was created with the slogan:
Pakistan became a sovereign state on Ramadan 27, 1366, (August 14, 1947). Its been over 77 lunar years, and almost 75 years according to the solar calendar. Pakistan declared itself an Islamic Republic in 1956. The Constitution of Pakistan requires all laws to be Shariah compliant. The Council of Islamic Ideology of Pakistan has submitted its report on riba-free economy. In spite of all this, the country continues to operate in the interest-based environment, internally and externally. On the external front, it is heavily indebted to lending organisations, and a large part of its budget goes into debt servicing. On the internal front, along with interest-based banks, another parallel islamic banking system has emerged, which has become widely popular. However, critics of the islamic banking say that its just a different method of book-keeping, while essentially they are also working the same way as interest-based banks. For the ordinary muslim, with little to no knowledge of technical matters, all this is very confusing, and discouraging, to say the least. How do they compete in the economic field without capital to invest?
Alternate Solution
To comply with Allah's prohibition on Riba, and to overcome the changing value of fiat currency, why not peg the value of the loan to the rate of gold? Suppose someone borrows PKR 10 million. The lender would just have to check the the rate of gold on the day the loan is being taken, and book it simultaneously in terms of its value in gold and in the local currency. Since the transaction will be payable and recoverable in the national currency, thus there would be no need to worry about gold reserves. However, in such a transaction, the principal of the lender will be secured, unaffected by the time-value of money, and the borrower will not be overloaded with interest payments. Experts in the subject could work out how it would be feasible to apply this over short vs long term loans, etc.
Such a system should naturally encourage people to borrow from such institutions, instead of interest-based banks. As the business of interest-based banks declines, they may choose to adopt this method, or take their business elsewhere.
We either choose to willingly adopt a riba-free system, or we suffer and learn the hard way. Eventually, Allah's Deen, will be established, and replace all false systems with divinely-ordained systems:
Notice of War by Allah and His Messenger
Allah grants sustenance, and determines who is granted how much. The Quran exhorts believers to spend from what they have been given.
Allah has decreed the system of Zakat, which essentially ensures a flow of wealth from the rich to the poor.
Riba is a system which essentially ensures the flow of wealth from the poor to the rich. It leads to many financial and economic problems in society, eventually culminating in slavery.
The prohibition on Riba is upon all believers of the Abrahamic faith.
A week before his alleged crucification, Jesus عليه السلام took violent measures against the money changers and merchants. This event is famously known as the Cleansing of the Temple. To quote from Wikipedia [dated July 16, 2022]:
A common interpretation is that Jesus was reacting to the practice of money changers routinely cheating the people, but Marvin L. Krier Mich observes that a good deal of money was stored at the temple, where it could be loaned by the wealthy to the poor who were in danger of losing their land to debt. The Temple establishment therefore co-operated with the aristocracy in the exploitation of the poor. One of the first acts of the First Jewish-Roman War was the burning of the debt records in the archives.
..
Surah al-Kahf begins with a warning of great violence from near Allah. Muslims and Christians believe that Jesus عليه السلام, the Messenger of Allah, will return during end times for the final Great War. It is believed that he will annihilate the Dajjal (the false messiah). When the false messiah and his systems are destroyed, then the Deen of Allah will prevail over all other deens.
Debt-ridden economies, and other existential crises, are increasingly challenging humanity's will to trust Allah. Surah al-Hajj combines the false promises of technology and wealth in one example:
Allah’s creations and the systems Allah has created are far superior to anything humans can come up with. It’s in our best interest to adopt an interest-free financial system.
Related Posts
Jesus (عليه السلام) – Ascension & Return
Detailed Guidance in Surah alKahf
...
No comments:
Post a Comment