thanks to TheReligionofPeace.com for this disgusting new development
Ottawa Imam issues fatwa against credit cards
'Demeaning To People'
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In an economy awash in easy credit, Ottawa's leading imam is definitely swimming against the tide.
Imam Khaled Abdul-Hamid Syed has issued a fatwa against credit cards, even if they are paid off every month.
"I conclude that it contains usury ... which is forbidden in Islam, so it should not be used," Imam Syed said in a mass email to members of the city's main mosque.
Islam has always banned interest for the same reason usury is condemned in other faiths: It can sink debtors, even whole economies, as recent years have shown.
"It's to protect people from falling in a lot of debt," the imam said in an interview.
"Interest is demeaning to people," added Ismail Barreh, an MBA student at the University of Ottawa who sat in on the conversation. "They are in need, and then you can take advantage of them."
There are two schools of thought about credit cards among Islamic scholars. Some argue they are permissible as long as no interest is accrued, meaning bills must always be paid in full.
Others disagree, quoting one of the earliest religious authorities, Ibn Mass'ood: "Allah has cursed the one who consumes Riba [usury or interest], the one who gives it to others, the one who records it and the one who witnesses it.... All of them are equal in sin."
This group believes anyone who signs a contract for the card "is ready to pay interest, thus he freely approves of dealing with interest."
A young Ottawa woman heard on a Saudi television broadcast that any credit card was forbidden, even if no interest was incurred, so she wrote the imam for clarification. "Do you advise me to get rid of my ... card? I only have one for emergencies and when I travel ... can you give me some advice please, should I cancel it and rely on Allah ... or is having it an exception to living in this society?"
Imam Syed replied in the mass email that she should rely instead on a prepaid credit card that can be loaded with set amounts. Cardholders can only spend what is on the card, and no interest is incurred.
In the interview, the imam stressed the fatwa is not binding, nor would every imam hold the same opinion.
"A fatwa is a religious decision, to tell people what their God loves, and what makes their God angry with them.... It is a religious decision to the person who asked."
So, while Islam has a general principle forbidding interest, each situation would call for a slightly different decision. For instance, another member of the mosque needed to buy groceries and other necessities as he awaited his monthly paycheque. For him, the card is allowed.
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=2578938#ixzz0fz9e8Rde
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