Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamu alaykum. Since I came to Islam, elhamdulillah I am striving to get rid of mistakes but subhanAllah I always make mistakes, even major ones. I took out a student loan. I was planning to get the loan paid off before it started bearing interest. SubhanAllah. I am now out of school and insha`Allah I will pay it off as soon as I can, but I cannot guarantee that I will live long enough to pay it off, let along guarantee that I will pay it off before it begins to bear interest. Now I am faced with a haraam decision that I made as a Muslim person. At least loans I took out before I was Muslim were in Jahilia, and I stopped dealing in credit cards for my daily needs and spending when I came to Islam. But now I want to come closer to Allah and I want to stop making sins but I am ultimately left up to Allah accountable for my mistake. I can resolve to never ever take out any interest bearing loan or loan that might one day bear interest, but what can I do in the mean time? I was listening to Mohammad AlShariif about how having a student loan is making a war against Allah and His messenger, salalahu alayhi wa salam, and that even if you die fighting for Allah`s causes that if you are still committing a sin and bearing a debt (especially one if it ends up bearing interest) that you cannot get paradise and you will lose your good deeds to pay for your sin/war against Allah. So what can I do now because I may end up having to pay interest on the loan and only Allah knows if I will live long enough to pay it in full?

The reason I am asking is because I am worried about my faith from this problem. I always see myself as striving toward Allah since I converted, and this is a really hard thing. I do not want to just loose all my Islam and have all that I am doing in vain. I do not want to make any bad decisions because I have already made one really bad one. I cannot take back my decision to take out my loans, but I have to continue my life as a Muslimb and find some sort of strength. So what is your advice?

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Answer:

Involved in riba sin forgiveness

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 274-276:

But those who devour ‘riba’ become like the one whom Shaitaan has bewitched and maddened by his touch. They have been condemned to this condition because they say, “Trade is just like ‘riba”, whereas Allah has made trade halaal and ‘riba’ haraam. Henceforth, if one abstains from taking ‘riba’ after receiving this admonition from his Lord, no legal action shall be taken against him regarding the ‘riba’ he had devoured before: his case shall ultimately go to Allah. But if one repeats the same crime even after this, he shall go to Hell, where he shall abide for ever! Allah deprives ‘riba’ of all blessing and develops charity, and Allah does not like an ungrateful, sinful person.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 30 Surah Rome verse 39:

39 That which ye lay out for increase (riba) through the property of (other) people will have no increase with Allah: but that which ye lay out for charity seeking the Countenance of Allah (will increase): it is these who will get a recompense multiplied.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisa verse 161:

That they took ‘riba’, although they were forbidden. And that they devoured men’s substance wrongfully. We have prepared for those among them who reject faith a grievous punishment (of Hell Fire)!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imraan verses 130-132:

130 O ye who believe! Devour not ‘riba’ doubled and multiplied; but fear Allah; that ye may (really) prosper.

131 Fear the Fire which is prepared for those who reject faith.

132 And obey Allah and the Messenger; that ye may obtain mercy.

Allah says further in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 278:

O Believers!, fear Allah and give up that ‘riba’ which is still due to you, if you are true believers. But if you do not do so, then you are warned of the declaration of war against you by Allah and His Messenger!

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2829 Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib

Ali said he heard Allah's Messenger (saws) invoke the curse of Allah on those who took usury, those who paid it, those who recorded it, and those who refused to give sadaqah.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, one cannot over-emphasis how detested and hated is the concept of ‘riba’ in the Sight of Allah and His Messenger (saws)! If one indeed fears Allah and the Last Day, and if one indeed sincerely fears the warning of a war to be waged against them by none other than The Lord Most Majestic and His Messenger (saws)…..one who has entwined or encircled themselves in the abomination of ‘riba’ should not rest until one has taken concrete steps to relieve himself from this abomination as soon as possible!

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.676 Narrated by Abu Said Al Khudri

The Prophet (saws) said, "Amongst the men of Bani Israel there was a man who had murdered ninety-nine persons. Then he set out asking (whether his repentance could be accepted or not). He came upon a monk and asked him if his repentance could be accepted. The monk replied in the negative and so the man killed him. He kept on asking till a man advised to go to such and such village. (So he left for it) but death overtook him on the way. While dying, he turned his chest towards that village (where he had hoped his repentance would be accepted), and so the Angels of Mercy and the Angels of Punishment quarreled amongst themselves regarding him. Allah ordered the village (towards which he was going) to come closer to him, and ordered the village (whence he had come), to go far away, and then He ordered the Angels to measure the distances between his body and the two villages. So he was found to be one span closer to the village (he was going to). So he was forgiven!"

Dear and beloved brother, never never ever despair of the Mercy of your Lord Most Gracious! As long as you have sought sincere repentance from your Lord and strove your utmost to amend your conduct, and taken concrete steps to distance yourself from the evil, it is expected that you will find your Lord Forgiving and Merciful.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54:

When those come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself (the rule of) Mercy. Verily if any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended (his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6499 Narrated by Abu Dharr

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, stated: 'He who comes with goodness, there are in store for him ten like those and even more than those; And he who comes with vice, it is only for that that he is called to account. I even forgive him as I like, and he who draws close to Me by the span of a palm I draw close to him by a cubit, and he who draws close to Me by a cubit I draw close to him by the space (covered) by two hands, and he who walks towards Me I rush towards him, and he who meets Me in the state that his sins fill the earth, but not associating anything with Me, I would meet Him with the same (vastness) of pardon (on My behalf)."

Hadith Qudsi 34

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said that Allah Subhanah, High and Exalted He is, says: ‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great at it.’

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2339 Narrated by Abu Sa'id

Allah's Messenger (saws) said that the Shaytaan said, "By Thy Might, my Lord, I shall continue to lead Thy servants astray as long as their spirits are in their bodies." The Lord, Who is Great and Glorious, replied, "By My Might, Glory and Exalted Station, I shall continue to pardon them as long as they ask My forgiveness."

Ahmad transmitted it.

Thus one who sincerely believes in the vastness of the Lord’s Grace and Mercy, should never never ever despair of the Mercy and Pardon of His Lord, regardless of what or how many sins one might have done in one’s past…..if one sincerely turns back unto the Lord seeking His forgiveness, strives one’s utmost to amend his conduct, and takes manifest steps towards the final elimination of the evil………it is expected that he will find his Lord Forgiving and Merciful.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan