# Why is lending money for profit considered wrong in Islam?

*Is riba the root problem? Mufti Abu Layth asks why lending for profit is wrong*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/wce73zqci_i/s/23/
- Date: 2020-07-10 · Kind: discussion · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Shaykh Omar Baloch | Cynicism, Consumerism & the Catch 22 of Riba | Mindtrap with Mufti #30 (1:24:20–1:26:11)
- Status: a view quoted in order to be discussed, not a position held
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCe73zqCi_I&t=5060s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/wce73zqci_i/

**Topics:** Riba, mortgages and loans

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Mufti Abu Layth tests why profit on loans is a problem; the guest points to profit-sharing partnership as the alternative.

## Longer summary

The guest says the whole infrastructure of the economy is riba-based, pointing to dollars being printed for the stimulus package. Mufti Abu Layth asks whether he sees riba as one of the major causes of downfall, and says that, wanting to understand it from a secular perspective before the religious one, he wonders how a society could lubricate its finances without profit on loans, since few would lend except as charity. The guest replies that someone who wants to lend for business can use mudarabah [?], a profit-sharing partnership, which pays more than two or three percent interest.

## Sources and names cited

- Shaykh Omar Baloch
- riba
- mudarabah

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:24:20–1:26:11)

[1:23:42] debt and and the kind of meta debt that has been accrued and these kind of systems or meta systems are crumbling I'm not necessarily saying that that may not be the case but what I'm saying is the way human beings work in my understanding that's something like human beings like I'm not saying that these systems must persist but the human beings with prosperity I feel will whether they replace these systems with other organic system just rising above so if it's if it'll be replaced by something that's not about which will be

[1:24:19] good show but I I just mean necessarily Ripa our whole infrastructure is RIBA based and in the problem with that is that we are looking at a situation where in you know they're just printing dollars and getting it to everybody here it would the stimulus package right it's not like they out of curiosity share do you not feel or do you feel that this that a huge in that case I'm assuming that one of the major downfalls you may feel is because of RIBA the the whole kind of you know the kind of poison in the structure that's

[1:24:58] but I mean brings out the worst in humanity but you know I out of cute okay I'd like to pick your brains on that because do you not feel that River in Islam traditionally okay right okay sure a loan based yeah sure now because I'm sure now long for profit is this not when I'm trying to understand things to understand them in a secular perspective before I bring them into the religious

[1:25:33] sure that's thus people and look for the prosperity of humanity the way you the human system is all these things not necessary because who on earth how else would people how would they lubricate the kind of the finance of a society without things like profit for on giving money like nobody would give money without seeing some kind of a profit in it unless they were doing it as a charity but I mean human beings don't work generally on those charities you

[1:26:10] want to give a loan for business then do marca do Madonna and it gives you more than two three percent of interest yeah but you see one you'll see but that's the other thing is is that when we talk about rainbow we we only look at certain our scholars so just two it doesn't talk about the whole let me just give you an example show you can get my whole picture of show I have a spell forget about the fact you have to pay for the service of getting a loan forget about that I don't even think that's the main part of RIBA that I have a problem with the part I have a problem is you

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment wCe73zqCi_I/s/23. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/wce73zqci_i/s/23/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.