A person in dire necessity needs to buy something on installment; is this permissible or not?

The questioner : A person in dire necessity needs to buy something on installment; is this permissible or not?

The Shaykh : He is not in dire necessity for it to be permissible. How so?

The questioner : In detail.

The Shaykh : Our voice is not being heard, O Abu 'Abdullah, while we are talking about installments.

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : The truth is that in our current time, we have been afflicted with this world and its adornments, and we have become unable to live a moderate life without— I do not say luxury, but— we are unable to live without expanding our lifestyle. So, for example, a man lives and reaches an age, may Allah will it, where he is strong in build, strong in body, walks on his own feet, and is not affected. But he sees his neighbors; this one has a car, that one has a motorcycle, and so on. So he longs to have what others have, and he returns saying, "I am in dire necessity to buy a car or a motorcycle on installment." Where is this necessity, other than that he wants to expand? And on this basis, many matters are judged, without limit. A person says, for example, "I pay rent every month, seventy, eighty, or one hundred dinars, for example, so I am in dire necessity to build a house, and therefore I need to borrow with riba (usury or interest)." Where is the necessity, as long as you are alive and sheltered? Will you take this housing you are living in with you to the Hereafter? It is sufficient for you, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: - in his house, whether it is his property or the property of another - . Where is the necessity that he takes riba to build a house registered in his name? There is no necessity. And so this word has unfortunately become commonplace. ... So the issue is: if a person is in dire necessity for open riba, he is lying in his claim. Why is he in dire necessity? Is he going to die of hunger? The answer is no. If he is going to die of hunger, it is permissible for him to steal; rather, I say it is not permissible for him to steal.

The questioner : It is obligatory upon him.

The Shaykh : No, no, I do not want to say anything else. It is permissible for him to beg, because this is lighter than stealing. Stealing is an encroachment on the wealth of others without right, whereas begging, as Allah the Exalted said, . So if you ask, meaning you beg with right, it is more honorable for you to take this right through the lawful path than to steal. Look at how jurisprudence gradates for the person and clarifies the differences between one matter and another. You are going to die of hunger, you are going to die of cold; you must graduate in reaching the commissioning of what is forbidden out of dire necessity, step by step. Imagine yourself in any place, and we are now living in a populated country with many people. What is the necessity that compels you to borrow with riba? There is no necessity at all. You want to trade; trading is not a necessity. You can do any work; you can sell perfumes in a very small box. If you do not have the strength to bear the burdens and hardships, for example, a car in which you sell, or a regular bicycle, or something similar, as some of our Egyptian brothers and others do. Where did he jump straight to committing forbidden riba? On the basis of dire necessity? So, for example, if you are going to die of hunger, ask those around you and say, "My situation is such and such." This one does not give you, and that one does not give you, and that one does not give you, until you despair of asking. And if you are going to die, take the nearest food your hand can reach, even if it is theft; it becomes lawful for you now, but when? After taking the first step. And where does the last step come in, which is eating the haram (forbidden) through riba? There is no path here. There is no need you imagine that leads you to riba; it is nothing but expansion to eat haram wealth. And we are ignorant of, or we ignore, the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) after the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, . The truth is, my voice hurts me when I repeat this verse, but unfortunately, few remember it. The meaning of this verse, at least, no longer circulates in the minds of Muslims. Then his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . Indeed, what is with Allah is not attained through haram. This saying has been abrogated from the minds of Muslims entirely. So, unfortunately, they live the life of those about whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said, , meaning . The least word they say to you is, "I am in dire necessity," "I am in dire necessity," and he is not sincere in his dire necessity at all, according to the detail we explained earlier.

The questioner : What is our position when we hear from your eminence the prohibition of installments, while we hear from the eminence ofThe Shaykh : Ibn Baz and others also permit installments?

The Shaykh : Yes, by Allah, this question. Your position first is to hear the evidence of each of the disputing parties and to be free from following desires, may Allah protect you from desires, amen, amen, amen. So you free yourself from following desires and think about the evidence of this one and the evidence of that one. After that, follow what the evidence leads you to, even if you are an ordinary man. You do not say, "ThisThe Shaykh : and that is a Shaykh, this is a scholar, and that is a scholar." And in that case, you take what suits your desire. No, you will be held accountable by Allah, Mighty and Majestic, if you follow your desire on the pretext that there are two opinions in the issue. No. It is obligatory that you look at the evidence of this one and the evidence of that one. If the evidence leads you to prohibition, it becomes haram (forbidden) for you. If the evidence leads you to permissibility, it becomes halal (lawful) for you. As for following what is most suitable and most desirable for you, this falls under the general prohibition of following desires in the Book and the Sunnah. This is the first thing, and it is necessary for escaping the problem of scholars' disagreement on a certain issue. The second thing is to adopt the principle of , and this is not my saying or the saying ofThe Shaykh : so-and-so; it is the saying of the Prophet of all, . And if the issue does not have caution, we can imagine issues that do not have caution. It comes in the final stage with his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying, noting the avoidance of desire: . And my personal belief is that people today neglect applying all these stages. For example, I imagine one of our brothers hears an opinion from me or from the brothersThe Shaykh : of so-and-so hears an opinion from him, but he will quickly leave the opinion of the Shaykh in whose circles of knowledge he lived when he finds his desire and interest with another Shaykh, while he is biased towardThe Shaykh : the first one. This is our problem: we do not use the scale to know whether the saying of so-and-so is correct or the saying of so-and-so. Rather, we look at interest, desire, facilitation, and dispensation, and so on, with which opinion we proceed, even if it contradicts the saying of the man whose scientific and intellectual methodology you adopt, and so on. And therefore, we must get rid of two problems, perhaps one of which has freed us, which is blind following (taqlid), but the other problem we have not freed ourselves from is following desires. Following desires is a very great prohibition. The worst thing in a man is a followed desire and the satisfaction of every opinion with his own opinion. And therefore, I advise that the Muslim, if he is confused between two opinions, must search, within his ability, for the evidence of each, and then follow what the evidence leads to, whether it is for him or against him. If there is, for example, a doubtful matter, follow the hadith we mentioned: "Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt." If the issue does not end with this or that, it ends finally with . And it does not mean "consult your heart" is "your desire." No, the heart that believes in Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and is mindful of the surveillance of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, who knows what is in the breasts.