4a] Repenting from taking a riba-based loan

4a]
I took out a loan from thebank, due to difficult circumstances, because I wanted to prepare an apartment to get married.Please note that there is nothing luxurious in this flat at all, and it is a very simple flat. I am a teacher and my salary is transferred to the bank and a sum of money will be deducted from it each month for five years, untilthe loan ends. Two and a half years have passed, and I have decided to go to the bank and stop this loan, because I feel that anything that happens is because of this loan. But I found out that the amount that should be paid is more than I can afford. In addition to that,I was intending to do ‘Umrah this year, myself, my wife and my son and daughter. Is it permissiblefor me to travel for Umrah, hoping that Allaahwill heal my sick son and then come back to stop this loan next November in sha Allaah, or what should I do?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to take out riba-based loans,from the bank or elsewhere, even if that is to prepare a house for marriage, because of the definite prohibition on riba and the stern warning against it. Allaah says (interpretation of themeaning):
“O you who believe! Be afraid of Allaah and give up what remains (due to you) from Ribaa (from now onward) if you are (really) believers.
279. And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allaah and His Messenger but if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly (by asking more than your capital sums), and you shall not be dealt with unjustly (by receiving less than your capital sums)”
[al-Baqarah 2:278-279]
Muslim (1598) narrated that Jaabir (may Allaah bepleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the one who consumes riba, the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and the two who witness it, and he said: “They are all the same.”
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: Every loan in which it is stipulated that something extra be paid is haraam, and there is no difference of opinion on this point. Ibn al-Mundhir said: They were unanimously agreed that if the lender stipulates that the borrower must pay extra or give him a gift, and he gives the loanon the basis that he will take an additional payment for that, it is riba.
End quote from al-Mughni, 6/436
What the one who has taken out a riba-based loan has to do is repent toAllaah and regret what hehas done, and he has to resolve firmly not to go back to this great sin and serious crime, concerning which there is narrated a warning such as has not been narrated concerning any other sin. We ask Allaah to keep us safe andsound.
Moreover, according to Islam you are not obliged to pay back any more than the capital; as for theharaam interest, you are not obliged to pay it and it is not permissible for the lender to take it from you, because Allaah says: “but if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly (by asking more than your capital sums), and you shall not be dealt with unjustly (by receiving less than your capital sums)”.
But if you fear harm and problems if you do not pay the interest, then pay it, and repent to Allaah and feel dislike towards this great evil.
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him)was asked: I borrowed one hundred pounds fromone of my friends on the basis that I would pay him back one hundred and fifty. When the time to pay it back came, I tried to give him one hundred only, but he insisted on taking the extra amount of fifty pounds in return for the laon. What is the ruling on this extra amount? If that comes under the heading of riba, is there any sin on me, and how can I rid myself of that, knowing that the money that I borrowed from him has become mixed with my own money. What do I have to do?
He replied: Allaah has forbidden riba and has issued a stern warning against it. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Those who eat Riba will not stand (on the Day of Resurrection) except like the standing of a person beaten by Shaytaan (Satan) leading him to insanity…
O you who believe! Be afraid of Allaah and give up what remains (due to you) from Ribaa (from now onward) if you are (really) believers.
And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allaah and His Messenger”
[al-Baqarah 2:275, 278-279]
There are many forms andtypes of riba. What you mention in the question isa loan with interest. The kind of loan that is allowed in Islam is al-qardal-hasan (a goodly loan) in which you lend something to your brother so that he may benefit from the loan, then he pays you back without any additional payment being stipulated and without paying less. This is the goodly loan.
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:-* key word:- Tawbah/ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en