In today’s busy and ever changing world, where the demands of modern life can be quite a challenge and often it is hard to keep everything on “track” – Muslims may question why should I bother trying to make sure my earnings, my investments, the finance I take are halal? Indeed, the whole question of halal finance, investments etc may seem relatively alien as the dominant paradigm in society is for financial matters to be purely secular – the question of religion doesn’t touch these issues ordinarily. Many Muslims living against this background are often ignorant or haven’t been taught about the Islamic perspective on finance.
The religion of Islam is comprehensive and holistic in terms of its guidance for human life; indeed Islam means Submission to God’s Will and God Almighty has through the guidance of the Qur’an and the teachings of the noble Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) set out, through His Infinite Wisdom and Mercy, guidance for us in all aspects of our lives, including Finance.
As Muslim’s we know our success in this life and the next is inextricably linked to our endeavours in trying to live our lives in a way that God is Pleased with us. To seek God’s Acceptance and Mercy, naturally Muslims want to follow the guidance and teachings found in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
When it comes to finance and matters related to it, Islam is explicit in some of the key principles God wants us to adhere to. Furthermore stark and serious warnings are given for not following these principles. The following Quranic quotes or authentic hadith illustrate this point:
- It was narrated from Ibn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The son of Adam will not be dismissed from before his Lord on the Day of Resurrection until he has been questioned about five things: his life and how he spent it, his youth and how he used it, his wealth and how he earned it and how he disposed of it, and how he acted upon what he acquired of knowledge.” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2422)
- Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, “Trade is [just] like interest.” But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah . But whoever returns to [dealing in interest or usury] – those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein. (Chapter 2, verse 275)
- Believers! Have fear of Allah and give up all outstanding interest if you do truly believe. But if you fail to do so, then be warned of war from Allah and His Messenger. If you repent even now, you have the right of the return of your capital; neither will you do wrong nor will you be wronged. (Chapter 2, verses 278 to 279).
When a Muslim is faced with such teachings, naturally he/she will take heed. This simply prompts a Muslim to be “bothered”. Given the serious warnings given above, just as we as Muslims care about eating Halal meat and making sure we pray 5 times a day and fast in Ramadan, we need to take heed of these teachings – our earnings need to be Halal and we have to be very careful about interest in our lives.
We can’t afford to be ignorant or indifferent or worse still deliberately go against these teachings; our true success in this world and the next comes only from Allah Almighty.
May Allah Almighty guide us and give us taufeeq to take heed. Ameen.
Almost all of us need to save and invest to buy a house, support our kids through education, provide an income in retirement and achieve other financial goals. Furthermore, almost everyone is impacted by pensions and most people want to make use of tax efficient ways of savings such as ISA’s. The question that naturally arises is how can I do this in a halal way – whereby the investments I make do not contravene my faith.
This is precisely why Simply Ethical was set up – to provide professional and FCA regulated financial advice on how to invest and save in a halal way so as to achieve your financial goals. For those who want a relatively quick, accessible and inexpensive option to save and invest we have an online process to invest into a pre-determined portfolio, which is then managed by Simply Ethical (this option is called Simplified Advice Online).
For those who prefer face to face or telephone advice from a qualified Financial adviser, then we provide that too.