Credit Cards: Between Guarantee and Compensation
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
All right, Shaykh, let us return to the same credit card matter now.
The Shaykh:
We are insistent on the credit card.
The questioner:
No, no, Shaykh, we do not understand.
The Shaykh:
I have already answered it.
The questioner:
No, Shaykh, it is a necessity for her. I mean, perhaps now I take a card even if I do not borrow with it; I just pay it off so I can use it. It is not a condition that I be empty and have surplus money to benefit from it. I might buy with it and have a balance at the same time, because many situations now force you to deal with the number of this card so that you can buy without cash. So I do not know, even if it is in this other way.
The Shaykh:
This is a guarantee. What you described is approximately a guarantee. They guarantee you at the shops because they sell to you on their guarantee. If you do not pay them, they take it from the bank. This is a guarantee, a guarantee card. There is no harm in a guarantee, but no compensation is taken for it. A guarantee is a contract of facilitation. A guarantee and security in the Shari'ah are fine, but no compensation is taken for them. The guarantor and the surety do not take compensation because it is among the contracts of facilitation intended solely to benefit the one in need. Yes, he takes from you only the amount he paid. He says, "So-and-so paid, I will pay on his behalf," and if he pays on your behalf, he takes from you only what he paid. This security and guarantee are fine. But if he does not guarantee you except for compensation, that is not permissible. Yes.
All right, Shaykh, let us return to the same credit card matter now.
The Shaykh:
We are insistent on the credit card.
The questioner:
No, no, Shaykh, we do not understand.
The Shaykh:
I have already answered it.
The questioner:
No, Shaykh, it is a necessity for her. I mean, perhaps now I take a card even if I do not borrow with it; I just pay it off so I can use it. It is not a condition that I be empty and have surplus money to benefit from it. I might buy with it and have a balance at the same time, because many situations now force you to deal with the number of this card so that you can buy without cash. So I do not know, even if it is in this other way.
The Shaykh:
This is a guarantee. What you described is approximately a guarantee. They guarantee you at the shops because they sell to you on their guarantee. If you do not pay them, they take it from the bank. This is a guarantee, a guarantee card. There is no harm in a guarantee, but no compensation is taken for it. A guarantee is a contract of facilitation. A guarantee and security in the Shari'ah are fine, but no compensation is taken for them. The guarantor and the surety do not take compensation because it is among the contracts of facilitation intended solely to benefit the one in need. Yes, he takes from you only the amount he paid. He says, "So-and-so paid, I will pay on his behalf," and if he pays on your behalf, he takes from you only what he paid. This security and guarantee are fine. But if he does not guarantee you except for compensation, that is not permissible. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-38-قضايا فقهية - 02|صالح الفوزان|العام|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (37:02)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.