Papers And Articles
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Papers And Articles
Sheikh Yassir Qadhi speaking on the prohibition of Riba (usury, interest)
“[Riba is prohibited] so that wealth doesn’t become a plaything that remains among the rich amongst you, so wealth shouldn’t just remain amongst the rich. You see from an Islamic perspective Riba or interest is the essence of economic injustice. Why, a rich person will lend money to a poor person with guaranteed return and the poor person might fail in the business … and the rich person is profiting of, of the fact that he is rich, that’s it. He’s literally profiting simply because he has money in his bank account and the poor person needs that money and he goes he is the money and I demand much more money back and that is why it is the essence of gurb or injustice, the height of injustice. From an Islamic perspective if you want money from a rich person you need to make him an investor, you need to make him convinced that you are worthy of an investment and he shares the profit and loss. You see in Islam guaranteed profit is a big problem because guaranteed profit nobody knows the future other than Allah Subhana wa ta Aalaa. When you guarantee a profit then essentially you are making sure that the rich person becomes richer and the poor person is taking a major risk because he or she is poor and that’s why Allah say wealth should not be a play item amongst the rich amongst you, wealth should be trickled down, wealth should be taken down to the poor, wealth should go down so that everybody benefits from it and the injustice of riba, of interest, essentially ensures that the rich become richer and the poor generally speaking become poor and poor and that is why our Prophet (pbuh) forbade interest and he called it of the major sins.”
[Riba is included in the list of the 7 deadly or destructive sins. In the same category as murder and committing shirk.]
Statistics
The Competition Commission has published findings on the usage and estimated cost of non-mainstream types of credit:
- Home Credit Companies (Doorstep lenders) – Lent £1.5 billion to about 2.3 million customers in 2004. APR varied from 150 per cent to 500 per cent. Pawnbrokers are used by about 600,000 customers a year. An estimated 29% fail to recover the pawn.
- Pawnbrokers are used by about 600,000 customers a year. An estimated 29% fail to recover the pawn.
- There are some 165,000 UK households using illegal lenders in areas often not served by legal home credit lenders. APR can run into several thousand per cent. Late or missed payments are punished by disproportionate, often arbitrary charges, and the use of intimidation and violence to elicit payment are common.
- 35% of low income households on the £10,000 a year or less threshold have no insurance but are the most likely to suffer from crime, fire and flooding (ABI Research 2007).
- Demand for affordable credit from financially excluded clients stands at £1.2 billion per annum (FIT Research 2007).
Gap between rich and poor is increasing. Inequality is on the rise.
Recent research reveals 40% of under 25s do not have a plan in place to repay their the money they currently owe.
Average debt for the under 25s has tripled in the last 10 years and now stands at over £12K. In 2015 2 million young people under 25 fell into financial difficulty.
High court active writ can be enforced by enforcement agents.
In UK on average couples spend 44k when they divorce or separate and it takes 1 year to settle financial matters with many taking each other to court.
1 in 4 adults fall into debt as a direct result of a break up.
Business debt has risen by 25% in the last 5 years. With 3 in 5 companies facing some sort of debt. Sme most vulnerable, owing money to trade suppliers totalling £6.3 trillion. Debt of less than £20k is enough to put 1/4 of small companies out of business.
Did you now only 3% of the total UK money in circulation is in note or coin form, 97% is electronic? Also only 8% of the total world currency is in cash all the rest is in electronic form.
Global debt is now almost 2.5 times greater than the world’s total stockpiles of money
Total debt – the amount owed by every individual, organization and country on the planet – hit $199 trillion (£158trn) in 2016, but the world has only $80.9 trillion (£64.2trn) in cash and bank deposits.
Most banknotes contain traces of cocaine
Study after study has shown that most banknotes are contaminated with cocaine. Test results suggest all UK banknotes acquire traces of cocaine within weeks of entering circulation, and up to 90% of dollar bills are tainted with the drug.
The average European banknote is home to 26,000 colonies of bacteria
A recent Oxford University study found that the average European banknote contains 26,000 bacterial colonies, including virulent strains such as E.coli and salmonella.
There are more germs on a £1 coin than a toilet seat
The same study discovered that the average £1 coin in circulation harbours more bacteria and viruses than a regularly-cleaned toilet seat.
There is currently $1.48 trillion (£1.18trn) in circulation
According to the latest Federal Reserve figures, a colossal $1.48 trillion (£1.18trn) is currently in circulation, but as many as 60% of dollar banknotes are held outside the US.
A Truly Interest Free Loan
Ansar – literal meaning ‘helpers’ in the Arabic language. This was the name given to the helpers of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him) in Madinah. We aspire to take lessons from the ‘Ansar’ and bring them to life in the 21st Century. As a result, we have been providing life-changing support by means of granting interest-free loans, since 1994, as one of the first providers of Shari’ah based finance in the UK. We are an established and registered charity passionate about building a better financial future in the UK.