Is it permissible to borrow from banks for one who has not found anyone to lend to him?

The questioner : May Allah grant you a thousand blessings.

The Shaykh : May Allah keep you safe.

The questioner : ... In the hadith we are talking about, meaning a poor person, as you mentioned, but in a situation where he is unable to take... they give it to him through the bank, so is this...?

The Shaykh : Of course.

The questioner : There is no other way except...

The Shaykh : The way, and he who fears Allah.

The questioner : He who fears Allah...

The Shaykh : You are here in a country now; have you heard of a man dying of hunger and thirst? So where is the dire necessity? Be patient!

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Be patient.

The questioner: Go ahead.

The Shaykh : Being patient is the problem, my dear uncle.

The questioner : Abu Halim, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Abu Halim, what Allah willed.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : What Allah willed, welcome.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : Our problem, O Abu Halim, is that we have become distant from our religion. Knowledge precedes action. For example, if a man wants to travel through this desert, the first thing he does is study the route. There may be several roads, so he asks about the paved road and the shorter route, and so on. So, first comes knowledge, then action. As Muslims, we live in a state of ignorance, and as a result, our actions, as we were just discussing with our brother, resemble the actions of the disbelievers. We do not distinguish between what is lawful and what is forbidden. Why? Because we do not know the halal and the haram. So, O Abu Halim, you say a poor man knocked on the door of so-and-so, and no one extended a hand to him, not even with a benevolent loan. Is it permissible for him to borrow from the bank? We say no. Why? Because there is no difference between one who consumes riba and one who consumes riba. Do you understand the point?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Well, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said So the entire group that deals in riba is included in the curse, and I seek refuge in Allah. Therefore, it is not permissible to say, "I need money, I cannot find anyone to lend me a benevolent loan, so I want to borrow from the bank." Because the bank operates by lending and borrowing, and it is the bank that operates in this manner. By a fortiori argument, the merchants who deal with them, even if they are poor, but they deal in order to expand their trade. If a Muslim remembers this hadith alone, he will say, "I seek Allah's forgiveness. I will not die of hunger or thirst." I am saying this: if matters become tight and do not reach a resolution, and will not reach one, because no matter what, among Muslims there is some stinginess, miserliness, and lack of cooperation with neighbors, brothers, and friends, even with a benevolent loan. No matter how we describe this bad trait, there is still good in people. But I am saying: if the situation were such that this poor man did not find a means of sustenance by any of the two ways—and this is impossible—but hypothetically, to illustrate the punishment of riba and its severe sin, if the situation were between borrowing with riba and stealing, stealing is less severe for him than riba. But why? The dire necessity occurred in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and He pardoned him. Therefore, before anything else, we must learn, and then we must apply our actions based on knowledge. Living carelessly, as they say, is not Islamic life at all.