I came back from the janāzah in Apomu yesterday, only to start reading some rather grandiloquent Arabic from certain quarters in South-West Nigeria in reaction to this short audio from Shaykh Abū Nāṣir.
May Allāh forgive Ustādh Sharīf Ḥusayn. He has gone, and he is gone. May Allāh brighten his grave, widen it for him, and grant him Jannah.
He has gone with his deeds. Let us, therefore, continue with ours.
Now, back to the discussion.
Anyone who listens carefully to Shaykh Abū Nāṣir — ḥafiẓahullāh — in this audio will notice that his voice became noticeably firmer the moment the verse concerning ribā entered his speech. And why should that surprise anyone? There are moments when the Qur’ān itself supplies the weight behind your words, particularly when you believe that some Muslims are attempting, knowingly or otherwise, to soften or undermine a Qur’ānic warning.
So, the “backlash” yesterday from some of our brothers in Islamic Finance is understandable.
But let me say this to them plainly: nobody is after your jobs. Nobody is trying to erase your achievements. Nobody is denying that you may possess considerable expertise in your field.
But you must also understand the nature of Islam.
Islam has never been a religion in which technical expertise gives someone immunity from criticism when his conclusions appear to collide with clear texts of the Qur’ān and Sunnah.
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, in a narration reported from more than one route, that Allāh will not gather this Ummah upon misguidance. The well-known wording reported by Ibn Mājah is not itself free from weakness, so it should not be presented without qualification; there is, however, a related narration in al-Tirmidhī concerning the Ummah not being gathered upon deviation.
So, gentlemen of Islamic Finance, please understand our concern.
There are certain statements about Islam which, once uttered, cannot reasonably be expected to pass without scrutiny merely because the person uttering them is an “expert.”
You may be an expert in financialese — mundane or otherwise. You may be conversant with Mushārakah, Muḍārabah, Murābaḥah, Ijārah, Sukūk, Tawarruq, Shariah-compliant liquidity management, asset-backed financing, risk-sharing, profit-and-loss sharing, Shariah governance, Shariah screening, financial engineering, structured products, hybrid contracts, Islamic hedging, waʿd, commodity Murābaḥah, and all the sophisticated terminology that has grown around modern Islamic Finance.
You may understand the architecture of modern financial markets and possess an impressive command of the technical language used to describe them.
But know this: Islam has its ḥurrās — its guards.
They may not understand every technical expression you use. They may not know every financial mechanism you are discussing. They may even ask you to explain your terminology.
But do not mistake unfamiliarity with your terminology for ignorance of the Qur’ān and Sunnah.
You may brandish Mushārakah, Murābaḥah, Tawarruq, Sukūk and “Shariah-compliant” this and “asset-backed” that before them. You may wrap a financial arrangement in layers of modern terminology and technical sophistication.
But once the matter reaches the Qur’ān and Sunnah, the question remains very simple:
What did Allāh permit, and what did He prohibit?
The foundations of Islam were not established by modern financial engineers, nor are they subject to revision because contemporary financial structures have acquired sophisticated names.
The canons of Islam are the very basis upon which these discussions must ultimately be judged.
So, brothers in Islamic Finance, the earlier you appreciate this reality, the better it will be for your own well-being.
Do not expect the people of the Qur’ān and Sunnah to sit quietly whenever they believe that something touching the fundamentals of the religion is being compromised.
They will ask questions.
They will examine the evidence.
They will quote the Qur’ān.
They will quote the Sunnah.
And, when necessary, they will object.
Not because they hate your profession.
Not because they are threatened by your achievements.
Not because they want your jobs.
But because, for them, the Qur’ān and Sunnah come first.
And no amount of financialese can change that.
Never.
You can download Shaykh Abu Naasir's Audio here.
Then later this morning these folks in the Islamic Finance went ad hominem saying 'but so-and-so Salafi scholar raised such-and-such millions through a bank that deals in Ribaa, do you know how many how much ribaa business that would have brought to the bank?'
The simple answer to that is that no Muslim scholar here has ever said that it is halal for Muslims to save money in banks that deal in Ribaa. Muslims save money in such banks out of necessity, both before and after the advent of Islamic banks in Nigeria.
There are several reasons for this necessity, even after the advent of Islamic banks. The poor service provided by many of these Islamic banks is one of them. It is sad, but that is the fact. Small fintech companies are today outperforming some of the well-established banks simply for this reason.
Secondly, these Islamic banks are, at times, wary of dealing with Muslim organisations, perhaps because of the blackmail and suspicion directed at them by some non-Muslims.
Lastly, when one keeps his money in a Ribaa-based bank and receives exactly what he deposited back—which is the case most of the time—it would be rather vindictive to say that such a person has consumed Ribaa. If, ordinarily, a Muslim were to entrust his money to a person named John who deals in Ribaa, and John returned the exact amount to him when he needed it, it would be unjust to say that the Muslim had consumed Ribaa merely because he had kept some of his money with John.
That would eventually take us back to the jaundiced position of some Ikhwanis who argue that Muslims should boycott such-and-such halal products simply because they are produced by the “enemies” of Islam.
That being said, saving money in Islamic banks is the better option, provided all the necessary safeguards are in place and the Islamic banks themselves come clean in their dealings. That, however, is a discussion for another day. Even where all those conditions are not fully present, Islamic banks may still represent the preferable option.
However, necessity can make it permissible for one to keep his money elsewhere.
And this is precisely where the distinction lies: the alleged necessity that may compel someone to keep his money in a conventional bank is not automatically present when it comes to buying shares in a company that has interest-bearing loans.
That distinction needs to be properly established before the two situations are treated as though they are one and the same.
Aboo Aamir Ishaq AbdurRaheem, Ibadan, Nigeria.
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