Money today moves through the phone, savings groups and purchases on credit. The rules, however, have not changed: trade is permitted, riba is forbidden (2:275), and debts are to be written down (2:282).
The tontine
Ten people each pay 10,000 francs per month; each month, one of them receives the 100,000. It is a series of loans between members: each lends to the others, then recovers exactly what they paid in.
Some contemporary scholars, including the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars (by the majority of its members), Ibn Baz and the Dar al-Ifta of Jordan, have judged this rotating savings permissible, because no one receives more than what they paid in. It becomes problematic when:
| Practice | Why it is a problem |
|---|---|
| The first to receive pays a "bonus" to the others | This is a surplus tied to the loan: riba. |
| On "sells" his turn for a sum of money | We buy money with money, at unequal prices. |
| A late-payment fine benefits the members | The loan yields a return: this is the mechanism of riba. |
| The organizer deducts an unagreed share | It is taking another's property without their consent. |
A fixed and known-in-advance remuneration for the person who keeps the cash box, in exchange for their work, is accepted by those who permit it. Write out the order of turns, the amounts, and what happens if a member can no longer pay.
Mobile money
Sending, receiving and paying by phone is a service : the fees compensate this service and are permissible. Two points of attention:
- The "credit" or the "overdraft" proposed in the app: if you repay more than the sum received, it is an interest-bearing loan, whatever the name of the "fees" may be.
- "Interest-earning" savings : a guaranteed percentage paid on a deposit is interest. Find out where the gain comes from before accepting it.
Buying on credit
Buying a motorcycle, a phone or a fridge in installments is permitted, even at a higher price than cash, under three conditions:
1. The total price is fixed on the day of the purchase. 2. It does not increase if you pay late. 3. The seller owns the item at the moment he sells it to you.
What is not permitted: the company that lends you the sum and makes you repay more. It sells nothing: it rents out money.
Borrowing and repaying
« Whoever takes people's money intending to repay it, Allah will repay on his behalf; and whoever takes it intending to squander it, Allah will destroy him » (Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 2387).
« Delaying payment by one who is able to pay is an injustice » (Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 2287; Sahih Muslim, no. 1564).
And for one who truly cannot: « If he is in hardship, then grant him time until he is in ease; and forgoing the debt is better for you » (2:280).
Four habits
- Write it down every debt: amount, date, due date, two witnesses.
- Do not borrow to appear : festivities, phone, clothing.
- Refuse any surplus promised on a loan, in either direction.
- Answer the phone When you owe money: silence harms more than delay.
Before taking out a loan or a savings product, show the contract to your imam. See also the articles on riba and on debts.