All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon the noblest of messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his companions. To proceed:
These transactions involve prohibited usury, as indicated in the Quran, Sunnah, and by consensus of scholars. The Quranic verses and Prophetic hadiths clearly state that consuming riba is among the grave sins and is one of the crimes that lead to a threat of hellfire and curses.
Allah Almighty says: *"Those who consume riba will not stand on the Day of Resurrection except as one stands whom Satan has driven to madness by touch. That is because they say, 'Trade is just like riba.' But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden riba. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah. But whoever returns to [dealing in riba] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein. Allah destroys riba and gives increase for charities. And Allah does not like every sinning disbeliever"* [Al-Baqarah: 275-276]. And He says: *"O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of riba, if you should be believers. And if you do not, then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal - [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged"* [Al-Baqarah: 278-279]. These verses provide clear evidence of the severity of the prohibition of riba and affirm that it is a major sin punishable by hellfire. They also indicate that Allah, the Exalted, destroys the earnings of the usurer and blesses charitable giving, meaning He grows and increases it for its recipients, so that a little becomes much if earned lawfully.
The final verse explicitly states that the usurer is at war with Allah and His Messenger, and it obliges him to repent to Allah and take only the principal amount of his money without any excess.
The Messenger of Allah May God bless him and grant him peace said, *"May Allah curse the one who consumes riba, the one who pays it, the one who records it, and the witnesses to it,"* adding, *"They are all the same"* [Sahih].
This issue, widely promoted in newspapers and magazines, has been addressed by the Council of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and this is a summary of their statement: *"Depositing money in banks to earn a fixed usurious interest, which the owner of the money receives from the bank or similar institution either after a set term or upon withdrawal, in return for the agreed interest (referred to as profit or return), is clear riba prohibited by Allah and His Messenger. The consensus of Islamic scholars is that it is forbidden. Changing the name of this transaction to 'deposit' or any other term does not alter the ruling on it. It combines both riba al-fadl (increase) and riba an-nasi'ah (delay), as it involves exchanging money for money with usurious gain in exchange for delay."*
It is incumbent upon leaders and Islamic scholars everywhere to denounce such usurious transactions and warn against them. Likewise, the Ministry of Information should prohibit the promotion of these usurious transactions in all media outlets, in accordance with the words of Allah, the Exalted: *"And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty"* [Al-Ma'idah: 2]. And He says: *"Let there be arising from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful"* [Aal 'Imran: 104]. And He says: *"Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and habitually transgressed. They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did. How wretched was that which they were doing"* [Al-Ma'idah: 78-79]. And Allah, the Exalted, says: *"By time, indeed, mankind is in loss, except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience"* [Al-Asr: 1-3].
May Allah grant success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
