Wednesday 29 August 2007

Are Credit Cards Haram?

A few days back I dined out, celebrating my cousins birthday at one of the renown restuarants of the city.My cousin payed the bill via her debit card. As she handed the card, the manager who was taking our feedback on the food etc, got a glimpse of it and immidiately expressed his happiness seeing it's a debit card and not a credit card.
You know how pathans can be, tooooo happy ik dum say :)
So in his pakhtoon accent,he went on and on and on telling us that credit cards are haram in Islam. I politely objected. I tried explaining to him that credit cards are haram if and only interest is hit. As long as one pays his\her dues in time, it's pretty much halal. I doubt if he got my point, he stood there similing away out of courtesy rather than amusement :), Anyhow, it got me thinking on the topic and just now I got some time off work, so i searched the web and it turns out that my point is valid.

Sunnipath says: It is permitted to use credit cards with the following main conditions:
1. One has the firm resolve and ability to pay the amount before any interest becomes due; and
2. One is sure that one will actually pay it off before any interest becomes due. That is, one has the funds to do so, and one’s habit and past experience shows that one will actually do so.

17 comments:

Unknown said...

well as far as i think we shud act on hadith k 'jo chez shak main dalay usay chor do' (not exact wordings)
2ndly can we move on in our life without credit card?....yes we can thats why they have introduced 'debit card' with visa powers...!!
3rdly what is the gurantee that if we buy something (for which we don't have any money (if we had any then we wouldn't have used cc)) then we will have enough money before the deadline of payment comes? No One but Allah Knows Right? den in other words u r opening a door for that thing u bought to become haram(there is a strong possibility and u can't deny it)
4th if we get Credit Card we atleast have to pay its annual fees so arn't we actually supporting this system which is based on concept of 'interest'?

ps: I do have a cc but dats corporate and i have no choice but to use it for corporate purposes

Syra said...

point 3--i prefer carrying a credit card rather then carrying 15k in my vallet, so instead of roaming around with cash in bulk(which i do have) i take a credit card along whenever a heavy payment is required

but i agree with you, now that debit cards are available one should do away with credit cards out of the risk of falling into interest.

no body but Allah knows, but intentions are what matters, which at heart we know.

Sameer said...

Personally, I just get uncomfortable, even with the thought of not being able to pay the cc dues in time and then getting my hands dirty with the curse of interest. It's just an uncomfortable thought. I got one myself but only to try-out/make-use of the e-banking services they offer. I'm not sure if debit cards allow that currently. Some light anyone?

isaleem said...

I have come to know abt different credit card in which there is 0%interest rate if you are shopping and if you use it as an ATM it will take quite some money in interest.

Syra said...

no kidding? u r saying that there is a credit card that doesn't penalize u for missing payments?

isaleem said...

if you just shop using the card there are no hidden interests.

Syra said...

:S, there are no hidden interests in any credit card, if u don't pay before the due date ONLY then you have to pay the interest as well.

isaleem said...

there are hidden interests.ok
try it. Draw some money from ATM and then check the interest which has been charged by the bank.

Syra said...

imran sir,i was referring to use of credit card for shopping, na kay use of credit card as an ATM card :)
comin to think of it, some shops charge an extra 2.5% sometimes if u pay via credit card--bank charges or something

isaleem said...

ya you get less discount if you are buying using credit card. Yes you are right that there is no extra interest if you use it for shopping and pay your dues in time but still bank has some gain in this whole process and you know that no bank is doing Islamic banking in Pakistan. Considering that credit card or debit card there is something going from us to the bank (excluding the service charges)and which is no halal i must say.

Syra said...

i think bank Alfalah is, not so sure..will have to check

isaleem said...

nopes no bank but no bank is doing Islamic banking in Pak. Those who claim who are doing this are even not doing it. They use the terminologies of The Quran but the entire working of their bank is Traditional Interest Based.

Syra said...

sadly, the whole interest system is deep rooted globally, even bonds, lottery tickets are islamically invalid.

isaleem said...

Shares and stock market are the rightful way of investment. But still small business men are troubled due to the high fluctuation in the market.
You know, in 2005 when the first time the stock market crashed badly for the first time more than 3000 points, thousand of families lost there every thing. Ever since the stock market is not a safe place for investment and also the international investor are pulling back from Pakistani markets.

Unknown said...

@sam
well sadly no bank give any good e-banking service/professional services on debit cards...all incentives/promotions are for evil ....:) however SCB account does have some good e-banking services dono abt others
@imran
its other way around infact you get more discounts if u buy from crdit cards (like a bait) and there is nothing going from us to bank when we buy using cc or db i have tried both many times :) unless u delay payments or withdraw cash

isaleem said...

@ali
ok
but when i went to shop with my bro in his wedding the discount given to us was less as compared to which we could get on cash

Unknown said...

well dats something different...it was from shopkeeper and most of the shopkeepers do that coz of the reason that they arn't getting cash right away....i was talking abt the discounts offered by promotional services on CCs....in bargaining discounts case u r right