Interest Rates rule us all
-Obaidul Haque Badal
We all live under the rule of interest (usury). Put your hand on your chest and tell me—can you honestly say that you have no connection with interest, that interest cannot touch you? You cannot. In fact, if you think carefully, you will see that religious or irreligious, believers or non-believers, we are all completely immersed in interest. You may be able to refrain from theft or adultery, but in an interest-based economic system, you can never completely sever your connection with interest. In some way, you will always be involved. Yet Allah has made interest (usury) haram. Not only that, He has imposed a strict prohibition regarding it.
Allah says about those who will not refrain from consuming interest: “Those who persist in dealing with interest are as if they are at war with Allah and His Messenger.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:279)
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “The sin of the usurer is divided into seventy parts, and the least of them is like committing adultery with your own mother.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 2274)
Why is it impossible to completely sever ties with interest?
Allah’s commandments in the Qur’an are of two types: personal and collective. Take, for example, alcohol. Allah has made it haram. You can personally choose to follow Allah’s command and completely refrain from drinking alcohol. Since it is a personal ruling, you can make a vow not to touch alcohol for life, and if your determination is strong, you can succeed.
But collective rulings, prohibitions that apply to society, cannot be practiced alone, and you cannot free yourself from them individually. Interest (usury) is one such matter. You can refrain from alcohol, but you cannot refrain from interest—even if you try, interest will not let you go.
Since the state’s economy is interest-based, we are all immersed in interest. You may not personally take or give interest, or even have transactions with banks, yet every unit of money in our pockets is connected to interest.
The central bank prints money and lends it to the Bangladesh government and private banks with interest. These private banks lend money to businesses with interest. That means money in an interest-based economy is never created without interest. Every note—from 1 taka to 1000 taka—is linked to interest. Even if a 1-taka note is printed, it is exchanged through interest. Each time it changes hands, someone earns interest and someone pays it. That’s how money reaches our hands.
Without loans from the World Bank or IMF, our budget wouldn’t function. Do they ever lend without interest? Sometimes they reduce the interest rate as a favor, but interest still exists. And the government repays these loans with our VAT and taxes. Can you avoid paying VAT or tell the government not to use your taxes to pay interest? No. In the current capitalist system, no government can avoid this; the system is built this way.
The central bank or World Bank loans at interest are used by the Bangladesh government for roads, schools, hospitals, mosques, temples, and other public works. Imports, exports, trade, and business—all are tied to interest. That means the road you walk on is linked to interest, your mobile phone is linked to interest. The tea you buy at a shop, the milk for your child, your mother’s medicine, your fridge or TV—all these businesses operate on interest-based loans. By buying their products, you indirectly benefit them, helping them repay interest on their loans. To grow their business, they borrow even more money at interest.
The per capita foreign debt of Bangladesh is 106,999 taka. A child born today inherits this huge debt along with interest. Each day, the newborn’s share of debt and interest increases. The child cannot escape this curse. Living in this society, even the newborn will remain trapped in the web of interest for life.
In an interest-based capitalist economy, no individual can remain free from interest. Even if you don’t personally take interest, the smoke and dust of interest will touch you. Only if you leave this society entirely—live in a cave, or on a deserted island with no financial dealings—can you avoid it.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) predicted: “A time will come when no one will be free from the use of interest. Even if a person does not deal with interest directly, its smoke or dust will still touch him.” (Ahmad, Abu Dawood, Nasai, Ibn Majah)
This is that era described by the Prophet (peace be upon him). We are trapped in the web of an interest-based economic system, unable to escape. We do not know the way out, or if we do, we do not recognize the path, or lack the courage. Some have given up in despair. Some have become accustomed to it.
Now the question is—do we want to sever our connection with all interest-based activities? If so, the interest-based capitalist economic system must be replaced with an interest-free economic system. Only then can you truly be free from interest. And the only system that can provide this is Islam. If an Islamic economic system can be established in the state, only then can the entire nation be liberated from the curse of interest.
This requires a decision: to abandon the man-made global system of life and establish the divinely-given way of life of Allah. The Islamic economic system must be implemented. Until then, we all remain under the rule of interest, immersed in its kingdom.
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