By Aboo Aamir
We will continue to criticise those so-called cosmetic “Islamic Finance Professionals” until we, as students of Bulūgh al-Marām, ʿUmdat al-Aḥkām, Nayl al-Auwṭār, Subul al-Salām, Zād al-Mustaqniʿ, Fatḥ al-Bārī, ʿUmdat al-Qārī, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, and other classical works, are convinced that they truly act in accordance with what is Islamically correct under the name of Islamic Finance and Economics.
If you like say we are novices but just ensure to prove we are truly novices.
Engaging in ribā-based transactions behind the backdoor, knowingly or unknowingly, is a doom for the Ummah.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"إِذَا تَبَايَعْتُمْ بِالْعِينَةِ، وَأَخَذْتُمْ أَذْنَابَ الْبَقَرِ، وَرَضِيتُمْ بِالزَّرْعِ، وَتَرَكْتُمُ الْجِهَادَ، سَلَّطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ ذُلًّا لاَ يَنْزِعُهُ حَتَّى تَرْجِعُوا إِلَى دِينِكُمْ."
“When you engage in ʿĪnah transactions, and you hold onto the tails of cows (i.e., become satisfied with farming), and you are content with cultivation, and you abandon Jihād, Allah will place humiliation over you, and He will not remove it until you return to your religion.”
Reported by Abū Dāwūd (no. 3462), Aḥmad (2/42, 84), and authenticated by al-Albānī in Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd (no. 3462).
What is ʿĪnah?
In a ʿĪnah transaction, a person sells something to another on credit (deferred payment) for a higher price, then buys it back from him for cash at a lower price.
Example: Zayd sells a car to ʿAmr for ₦1,000,000 on credit (to be paid in one year). Immediately, Zayd buys the same car back from ʿAmr for ₦700,000 cash.
Effectively, Zayd has lent ʿAmr ₦700,000 and will receive ₦1,000,000 after one year, which is ribā.
Below are some transactions these 'experts' pass as Islamic:
1. Organized Tawarruq (التورّق المصرفي المنظم)
Classical tawarruq was an individual sale to a third party. But banks manipulate it:
The client buys a commodity from the bank on credit.
The bank, as agent, sells it immediately on behalf of the client, often to another of its own customers. In reality, the commodity never moves; it’s just paperwork. This is basically ʿĪnah in disguise.
2. Murābaḥah to the Purchase Orderer (المرابحة للآمر بالشراء)
Murābaḥah is ḥalāl if the bank truly buys, owns, and resells the goods at cost plus profit. But in practice, banks never take possession; they simply finance the deal and call the “interest” a profit.
3. Bayʿ al-Wafāʾ (بيع الوفاء)
A conditional sale where the seller agrees to buy back the item later at the same price. This is nothing more than a loan with collateral disguised as a sale.
4. Mushārakah Mutanāqiṣah (المشاركة المتناقصة – Diminishing Partnership)
Conceptually valid, but many banks structure the rent and buy-back in such a way that it mimics interest payments without genuine risk-sharing.
6. Ijārah Thumma al-Bayʿ (الإجارة ثم البيع)
Leasing followed by a sale. Allowed in principle, but many banks never truly own the assets; they simply finance and charge interest under the cover of “rent plus sale.”
7. Sukūk (Islamic Bonds)
Authentic Sukūk: ownership of real assets with profit-loss sharing. But modern Sukūk often guarantee fixed returns regardless of profit, making them ribā in disguise.
8. Takaful (Islamic Insurance) Abuses
While based on cooperation in principle, many Takaful schemes replicate conventional insurance, still involving ribā and excessive uncertainty (gharar).
Clear Contradictions with Authentic Aḥādīth
1. Severe Warning Against Ribā
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"اجتنبوا السبع الموبقات." قالوا: يا رسول الله، وما هن؟ قال: "الشرك بالله، والسحر، وقتل النفس التي حرّم الله إلا بالحق، وأكل الربا…"
“Avoid the seven destructive sins.” They asked: “What are they?” He said: “Associating partners with Allah, sorcery, killing a soul which Allah has forbidden except with right, consuming ribā…”
[Bukhārī 2766, Muslim 89]
Banks that disguise interest-based loans as “murābaḥah” or “tawarruq” contradict this clear warning.
2. Cursing All Who Participate in Ribā
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"لعن رسول الله ﷺ آكل الربا، ومؤكله، وكاتبه، وشاهديه." وقال: "هم سواء."
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the one who consumes ribā, the one who pays it, the one who writes it down, and the two who witness it. They are all the same (in sin).” [Muslim 1598]
This covers bank staff, contract writers, and witnesses if the contracts are ribā in disguise.
3. Prohibition of ʿĪnah Transaction (earlier cited)
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"إذا تبايعتم بالعينة، وأخذتم أذناب البقر، ورضيتم بالزرع، وتركتم الجهاد، سلّط الله عليكم ذلًّا لا ينزعه حتى ترجعوا إلى دينكم."
[Abū Dāwūd 3462; authenticated by al-Albānī]
Many banks still use ʿĪnah or its modern equivalents.
4. Prohibition of Conditional Sales
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"نهى رسول الله ﷺ عن بيعتين في بيعة واحدة."
— “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade two sales in one sale.”
[Tirmidhī 1231; Nasāʾī 4632; graded ṣaḥīḥ by Ibn Ḥibbān & Albānī]
Many “lease-to-own” or “installment with hidden conditions” contracts fall into this category.
5. No Profit Without Risk
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"الخراج بالضمان."
“The benefit (profit) goes with liability (risk).”
[Tirmidhī 1285; Abū Dāwūd 3508; ṣaḥīḥ]
Many banks guarantee profit without taking ownership or risk (Dr Sharaf talked about this in the video that led to this discussion).
6. Prohibition of Selling What One Does Not Own
The Prophet ﷺ said to Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām:
"لا تبع ما ليس عندك."
“Do not sell what you do not possess.”
[Abū Dāwūd 3503, Tirmidhī 1232; ṣaḥīḥ]
Many banks “sell” cars, houses, or goods they never truly owned.
7. Prohibition of Excessive Uncertainty (Gharar)
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"نهى رسول الله ﷺ عن بيع الغرر."
— “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade transactions involving excessive uncertainty (gharar).”
[Muslim 1513]
Insurance contracts (even some so-called “takaful”) often have gharar.
8. Warning Against Deception
The Prophet ﷺ said:
> "من غشنا فليس مني."
— “Whoever cheats us is not one of us.”
[Muslim 102]
Marketing ribā-based products as “Islamic” or “Sharīʿah-compliant” is deception.
9. Warning Against Consuming Wealth Wrongfully
Allah’s Messenger ﷺ recited the verse:
{وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُم بَيْنَكُم بِالْبَاطِلِ}
— “And do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly…” [al-Baqarah 2:188]
And he ﷺ said:
"إن دماءكم وأموالكم وأعراضكم حرام عليكم."
“Indeed, your blood, your wealth, and your honor are sacred upon you.”
[Bukhārī 1739; Muslim 1679]
Banks consuming people’s wealth through fake contracts directly violate this.
So, when our mallams, who teach us Bulūgh al-Marām, al-Risālah, Sharḥ al-Muʿadhdhab, al-Qawānīn al-Fiqhiyyah, Muqaddimat al-Izzīyah, and al-Akhdarī, speak, listen to them. Do not dismiss them as non-experts. They are the real experts, without whom those who trained your so-called “finance professionals” would never have known how to coin the fancy terminologies now used to mask ribā.
If your PR departments know their onions, they should rather sit up, consult their principals, and organise sincere seminars where these “experts” and our so-called “local mallams” can exchange views.
But if you continue belittling our scholars and their students (ọmọ ilé keu), saying they are ignorant of your schemes, it will not end well. We will not keep silent when the Sharīʿah is being violated.
Our hope lies in strong Islamic institutions that embody the true meaning of the word, not in financial shylocks devouring people’s wealth unjustly in the name of “Islamic” finance.
I know some people will be very hurt by this piece, I promise you, we will fight this as we fight in every election cycle where you always sell us democracy. We will never get tired until you do what's right.
Aboo Aamir, a student of 'non expert' mallams who teach Bulughul Maraam and other books.
