The Ruling on Declaring Riba Permissible
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He asks: Is the presence of the Siba soldiers and their deployment in the countries evidence that they consider riba (usury or interest) permissible and that they have declared it lawful?
Answer:
Consuming riba does not indicate that one has declared riba permissible. Consuming riba is a major sin, and dealing in riba is a major sin and one of the destructive sins. However, it does not indicate that the one who deals in riba is a disbeliever unless he declares it permissible. If he declares it permissible, even if he does not take it, if he says riba is lawful, then he is a disbeliever, even if he does not take riba. So if he combines the two crimes, saying riba is lawful and taking it, may Allah protect us from that, then his declaration of it permissible is disbelief.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, O honorable
He asks: Is the presence of the Siba soldiers and their deployment in the countries evidence that they consider riba (usury or interest) permissible and that they have declared it lawful?
Answer:
Consuming riba does not indicate that one has declared riba permissible. Consuming riba is a major sin, and dealing in riba is a major sin and one of the destructive sins. However, it does not indicate that the one who deals in riba is a disbeliever unless he declares it permissible. If he declares it permissible, even if he does not take it, if he says riba is lawful, then he is a disbeliever, even if he does not take riba. So if he combines the two crimes, saying riba is lawful and taking it, may Allah protect us from that, then his declaration of it permissible is disbelief.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, O honorable
Source
الفوزان - الفتاوى المهمة لعامة الأمة — archive.org (58:35)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.