What is the ruling on using credit cards such as American Express, which are issued by financial institutions in exchange for paying a fixed annual fee on the card?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And may prayers and peace be upon the noblest of the prophets and messengers, our master and our prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his companions.
As for what follows:
The honorable Shaykh—may Allah preserve him—says:The questioner : What is the ruling on using credit cards such as American Express, which are issued by financial institutions in exchange for paying a fixed annual fee on the card of approximately one hundred and twenty dollars per year? This card allows its holder to purchase his needs without paying the amount immediately, and then the invoices are sent to him as they are, according to the actual value of the purchase. What is the ruling on dealing with such cards? I ask for clarification, and may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own selves and from the badness of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is no one who can misguide him, and whomsoever He leaves to misguide, there is no one who can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger.[Ali 'Imran 3:102], [An-Nisa 4:1], [Al-Ahzab 33:70-71].
As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
And after that: Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) says in His noble Book:[Al-Ma'idah 5:2], and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Sahih Muslim 1598. Many of the rulings of the Shari'ah are tied and linked to this principle that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) established for the aforementioned verse, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) detailed some of it in the hadith I mentioned just now. There are other hadiths that revolve around this explanation of this noble verse, such as the hadith in which he (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) cursed , and he (peace and blessings be upon him) counted them, mentioning in the first of the list: , and others, all of whom agree on cooperating in evil. When you know and remember this reality from that noble verse and from the Prophetic hadiths, then you will know that the rule is: "It is not permissible to cooperate in evil, but only in righteousness and piety". Since the matter is thus, the card you mentioned just now has two states:
Either it is a matter of cooperation in good, facilitating people's affairs, and meeting their needs without any riba (usury or interest) of the kind they call today "profit", meaning material gain, which is riba itself; or these cards are not accompanied by any riba, in which case we see nothing wrong with them, and they remain on the original ruling, "the original ruling in transactions is permissibility", just as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) used to say two very important words: "the original ruling in acts of worship is prohibition, and the original ruling in worldly matters is permissibility"
The original ruling in acts of worship is prohibition unless there is evidence; so whoever wants to worship Allah must have evidence. And conversely, the original ruling in customary matters is permissibility unless there is evidence. This dealing with this card is not hidden from anyone that it is not from acts of worship, but rather from transactions. Therefore, if there is nothing in the Shari'ah that prevents dealing with it, it is permissible; otherwise, one looks at what may be in it of contradiction to the Shari'ah. It was provided to me to discuss with some of the brothers who were afflicted or whose travels and trades required them to deal with this card and buy with it necessities whose prices reach thousands, if not millions of dollars. I understood from him that the prices sold with this card are not the prices that every buyer pays, but rather a certain percentage is added to them, which is what the bank, the issuer of this card, obtains in exchange for facilitating such transactions.
If this benefit is not like the benefits that riba-based banks take in exchange for a loan, but rather these benefits or additions to the true price of the card are only a fee for conducting transactions, then it is permissible. And if it is by the way of riba taken in exchange for a loan, then at that time it is said:. Therefore, I personally cannot decide on the reality of this increase, if what I heard is correct, whether it is riba or a fee for this transaction. If it is the former, it is clearly forbidden because it is a counter-value named riba. And if it is in exchange for facilitating transactions and conducting transactions that have a time and a value, it is permissible. And Allah knows best.
As for what follows:
The honorable Shaykh—may Allah preserve him—says:The questioner : What is the ruling on using credit cards such as American Express, which are issued by financial institutions in exchange for paying a fixed annual fee on the card of approximately one hundred and twenty dollars per year? This card allows its holder to purchase his needs without paying the amount immediately, and then the invoices are sent to him as they are, according to the actual value of the purchase. What is the ruling on dealing with such cards? I ask for clarification, and may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our own selves and from the badness of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is no one who can misguide him, and whomsoever He leaves to misguide, there is no one who can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger.
O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتُن إلا وأنتم مسلمونO mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.
يا أيها الناس اتقوا ربكم الذي خلقكم مِن نفس واحدة وخلق منها زوجها وبث منهما رجالاً كثيراً ونساءً واتقوا الله الذي تساءلون به والأرحام إن الله كان عليكم رقيباً(70) O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. (71) He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولاً سديداً * يُصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزاً عظيماًAs for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
And after that: Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) says in His noble Book:
And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.
وتعاونوا على البر والتقوى ولا تعاونوا على الإثم والعدوانAllah's Messenger (ﷺ) cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the two witnesses
لعن الله آكل الربا وموكله وكاتبه وشاهديهIn intoxicants, there are ten (cursed).
في الخمرة عشرةThe one who drinks it—and he mentioned—the one who serves it, the one who fetches it, the one who carries it, and the one to whom it is carried.
شاربها -وذكر- ساقيها ومستقيها وحاملها والمحمولة إليهEither it is a matter of cooperation in good, facilitating people's affairs, and meeting their needs without any riba (usury or interest) of the kind they call today "profit", meaning material gain, which is riba itself; or these cards are not accompanied by any riba, in which case we see nothing wrong with them, and they remain on the original ruling, "the original ruling in transactions is permissibility", just as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) used to say two very important words: "the original ruling in acts of worship is prohibition, and the original ruling in worldly matters is permissibility"
The original ruling in acts of worship is prohibition unless there is evidence; so whoever wants to worship Allah must have evidence. And conversely, the original ruling in customary matters is permissibility unless there is evidence. This dealing with this card is not hidden from anyone that it is not from acts of worship, but rather from transactions. Therefore, if there is nothing in the Shari'ah that prevents dealing with it, it is permissible; otherwise, one looks at what may be in it of contradiction to the Shari'ah. It was provided to me to discuss with some of the brothers who were afflicted or whose travels and trades required them to deal with this card and buy with it necessities whose prices reach thousands, if not millions of dollars. I understood from him that the prices sold with this card are not the prices that every buyer pays, but rather a certain percentage is added to them, which is what the bank, the issuer of this card, obtains in exchange for facilitating such transactions.
If this benefit is not like the benefits that riba-based banks take in exchange for a loan, but rather these benefits or additions to the true price of the card are only a fee for conducting transactions, then it is permissible. And if it is by the way of riba taken in exchange for a loan, then at that time it is said: