(Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of the Visitors of his Facebook Page "Economist")
To: Abu al-Ayham al-Maqdisi
Question:
Our beloved Sheikh, the scholar of goodness, Ata, Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
A question: It was stated in the book The Economic System (page 76) that the means of owning wealth are five: work, inheritance, the need for money to sustain life, the state granting from its funds to the citizens, and wealth taken by individuals without a financial exchange or effort. However, we are confused about another category—whether it is a means of owning wealth or a means of developing wealth—which is debt (al-dayn). To clarify the confusion, I will propose the following example which occurs among people: Suppose a man owns no money, takes a debt of 1,000 Dinars from another, uses it to buy goods from the market, sells them, and makes a profit of 500 Dinars. After receiving the profit and the capital, he pays back the debt to the creditor and keeps the 500 Dinars of profit. Is what happened a means of acquiring ownership of wealth? Or a means of developing wealth? May Allah bless you and grant victory at your hands.
Your loving brother: Abu al-Ayham al-Maqdisi.
Answer:
Walaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,
The money that a person borrows becomes his property as soon as he receives it. He has the right to dispose of it in all ways of ownership without restriction; he may gift it, spend it on himself and his family, trade with it, etc. The fact that he is obliged to return the money he borrowed to the creditor does not affect this, because the debt is fixed as a liability (dhimmah) and is not tied to the specific physical currency. Thus, the specific money becomes the property of the debtor, and he owes its equivalent in his liability, not the exact physical coins.
If a person borrows money from another, this money becomes his property. If he uses this money in trade, he is performing an act of "developing wealth" (tanmiyat al-mal). His trading is considered among the means of developing ownership, not the means of initial acquisition, because the original capital is owned by the person trading, who is the debtor. Consequently, the profit he earns from this trade is an increase (nama') of his original wealth and does not fall under the primary means of acquisition. This becomes clear if the debtor loses in his trade; the loss falls on his own wealth, not the creditor's wealth, because the creditor is entitled to the full amount of his debt when it is due, regardless of whether the debtor achieved a profit or a loss in his trade.
Accordingly, taking money through debt is one of the "means of ownership" (asbab al-tamalluk) and falls under the category of "wealth without financial exchange or effort," because it enables the debtor to own the money and dispose of it according to Shari'ah rulings. It seems the questioning brother thought that because the debtor will repay the debt, this contradicts the fifth category of ownership means: "without financial exchange or effort." This is not the case. The meaning of "without financial exchange or effort" is that the one who gives the gift, the present, the debt, or the charity does not demand a financial or service fee from the recipient. In other words, if someone gives a gift, they do not take a financial or service fee from the recipient for it; if someone grants wealth, they do not take a financial or service fee from the grantee for it; if someone grants a loan, they do not take a financial or service fee (interest) from the debtor for it; and if someone gives charity, they do not take a financial or service fee from the recipient of charity for it.
This is the meaning of "without financial exchange or effort." Therefore, a grant becomes the property of the grantee through a legitimate means of acquisition, and likewise, a debt becomes the property of the debtor through a legitimate means of acquisition, just as a gift is for the recipient and charity is for the poor. All of these are ownership for these parties due to a legitimate means of acquisition.
I hope the picture is clear, Allah willing.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
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