Comparing Tawarruq and Borrowing
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
I say, Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, that I am in need of money. Which is better for me: tawarruq (a commodity sale used to obtain cash), despite the scholarly disagreement regarding it, or borrowing and taking on debt? I do find someone willing to lend to me, but the debt is a heavy burden on the soul, and it involves losing one’s dignity.
The Shaykh:
Meaning, it is stretched out on the ground, yes, it is accepted. There is no harm in the matter of tawarruq, if Allah wills, and there is no problem with it. When some people prohibited it, people used to do good by extending loans. But now, people are stingy with their money, and there is no one who wants to extend a loan except in rare cases.
There is no harm in the matter of tawarruq, because it is a sale and purchase. Its basis is a sale and purchase: you buy a commodity for a deferred price, then you sell it in the market to someone other than the financier. You benefit from its current price, and when the deferred price comes due, you pay the financier. This is permissible; it is a sale and purchase, and it provides relief for people in financial distress. So there is no doubt that this is a Shari'ah solution and a means of relief from Allah. Yes.
The questioner:
From the Shaykh’s college.
The Shaykh:
He still has the capacity to beat people into a ruin. Glory be to Allah, may Allah reward you with good. If a person says that backbiting is not permissible and that taking on debt is not permissible, and he has money and the capacity to feed people, may Allah reward you with good. Fine. If he is stingy with money and miserly with money, and tells people not to do the matter of ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation), the matter of debt, or the matter of backbiting, this is an imposition on people, a burden on people. They will turn to others if the door is closed to them.
I say, Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, that I am in need of money. Which is better for me: tawarruq (a commodity sale used to obtain cash), despite the scholarly disagreement regarding it, or borrowing and taking on debt? I do find someone willing to lend to me, but the debt is a heavy burden on the soul, and it involves losing one’s dignity.
The Shaykh:
Meaning, it is stretched out on the ground, yes, it is accepted. There is no harm in the matter of tawarruq, if Allah wills, and there is no problem with it. When some people prohibited it, people used to do good by extending loans. But now, people are stingy with their money, and there is no one who wants to extend a loan except in rare cases.
There is no harm in the matter of tawarruq, because it is a sale and purchase. Its basis is a sale and purchase: you buy a commodity for a deferred price, then you sell it in the market to someone other than the financier. You benefit from its current price, and when the deferred price comes due, you pay the financier. This is permissible; it is a sale and purchase, and it provides relief for people in financial distress. So there is no doubt that this is a Shari'ah solution and a means of relief from Allah. Yes.
The questioner:
From the Shaykh’s college.
The Shaykh:
He still has the capacity to beat people into a ruin. Glory be to Allah, may Allah reward you with good. If a person says that backbiting is not permissible and that taking on debt is not permissible, and he has money and the capacity to feed people, may Allah reward you with good. Fine. If he is stingy with money and miserly with money, and tells people not to do the matter of ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation), the matter of debt, or the matter of backbiting, this is an imposition on people, a burden on people. They will turn to others if the door is closed to them.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب ما جاء في السحر — islamhouse.com (1:09:14)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.