ISRÂF - II

One of the indicators of the fact that isrâf is something bad is interest’s (fâiz) being harâm. It is a grave sin to give and/or take fâiz. The purpose of this interdiction is to protect people’s property against loss. To show the offensive valuation that the Islamic religion ataches to fâiz, it has been deemed useful to write a few examples from the Turkish commentary to the booklet Bey’ wa Shirâ (Buying and Selling), rendered by Hamza Efendi ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’:

“There are ten things that cause a person to die without îmân: 

1– Not to learn the commandments and prohibitions of Allâhu ta’âlâ; 

2– Not to align one’s îmân with the tenets of îmân taught in the Madhhab of Ahl as-sunnat;

3– To be fond of worldly property, position, and fame; 

4– To be cruel to human beings, to animals, and to oneself; 

5– Not to be thankful to Allâhu ta’âlâ and to people who cause one to attain blessings; 

6– Not to fear lest one should become an unbeliever; 

7– Not to perform the five daily prayers of namâz within their prescribed times; 

8– To give and/or to take fâiz. 

9– To abhor Muslims who are attached to their faith (Islam). To call them names such as ‘hidebounds’, etc.;

10– To utter indecent words, to write them, and/or to draw indecent pictures.”