Emergency Status (Dharurah) and Islamic banks
By
Zaharuddin Abd Rahman
"If a person was lost for days in the thick forest without eating and may die, could he consume a pig due to desperation (dharurat)?" I asked the participants in an Islamic finance seminar.
"Yes, he could," answered the participants confidently.
"Wrong" I replied, creating confusion.
"This is because other options are still exist in the forest to ease his hunger such as snails, worms, plants, fruits and so on, which are far better than a pig. That should be prioritized rather than consuming the pig," I argued.
"Thus there is no dharurat at that time, and it is not permissible for the man to consume the pig just because it is tastier, more appetizing and fatter than worms" I said firmly, inviting laughter from participants.
The same situation applies to Islamic banking in Malaysia. Muslims should give priority to Islamic banking although it looks less ‘appetizing' and causes additional difficulties as compared to riba based institutions. Muslims cannot use dharurat as an excuse to use the facilities of conventional banks.
As mentioned:
"Verily what is allowed due to emergency (dharurat) requires a certainty that the emergency occurred after every effort of searching (for what is permitted)." (Syarhul Umdah, 1/426)
The example above is to indicate that the argument of emergency for using conventional banks and insurance in Malaysia these days is totally unacceptable since there are Islamic banks, Islamic banking windows and takaful. The excuse that the price in conventional banks is cheaper should not be used as it is similar to the lost and starving person who saw a chicken (that is permitted) but consumed a pig just because he desired it. The only exception is when all Islamic institutions have rejected your application. Remember the Islamic Legal Maxims that reads:
Meaning: "What is permissible due to dharurat is limited to a certain limit." (As-Ashbah Wa An-Nazair, As-Suyuti, 1/82; Hawashi Asy-Syarwani, 3/272)
Consider the following scenarios:
In a secluded village where clean drinking water is scarce, two sellers approach the villagers with the following offer:
Seller A: Offering 1 liter of cheap liquor at only RM0.50 a bottle.
Seller B: Offering 1 liter of cheap orange juice at only RM1.00 a bottle.
Who do you think, in the above scenario, is inconsiderate and malicious? If your answer is B ( because selling orange in higher price than liqour), YOU MIGHT NEED TO RETHINK AND RECHECK your level of belief and taqwa, it might be at a worrying stage. Why?
It shows that the person make the visible and material element i.e price as a more important than the spiritual element i.e the prohibition of liquor.
To me, there is nothing more malicious and cruel than offering liquor that is prohibited, and at a cheap price that attracts people to do the prohibited.
Do not reprimand seller B for selling at a higher price, as we do not know his capital and cost to obtain the oranges. He also wants to profit while offering a permitted drink.
You say, "True, but seller B should be more considerate and sacrifice to save a lot of people from being attracted to what is prohibited". I believe it depends on the ihsan and belief of seller B but what he did was permissible. It depends on the owner. Therefore, if the owner of an Islamic bank is unable to give discounts, other owners may not be able to do so as well.
Finally, we should be fair in evaluating Islamic banks and not hastily accusing them as malicious when they are actually saving the Muslim ummah from falling into the trap of riba-based conventional banks.
Best regards,
Zaharuddin Abd Rahman
14 April 2009
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Comments
saya ingin membeli sebuah motorsikal akan secara ansuran tetapi kebanyakan syarikat motor hanya menawarkan pinjaman dari syarikat kewangan konvensional sahaja.. dan rasanya belum pernah dengar lagi syarikat kew islam yang tawarkan pnijaman kew kepada pembeli motorsikal.. jadi bagaimana ustaz? bolehkah saya meneruskan niat tersebut?? nak beli secara tunai itu melampaui had kemampuan kewangan saya.. harap sgt2 UZAR tolong jawab masalah saya
terim kasih dlm mengupas isu ini dlm blog ust, saya sependapat dgn ustaz, saya pernah berdiskusi dgn teman saya mengenai beberapa kelonggaran dlm institusi perbankan islam spt tidak membacakan akad,diuruskan oleh pekerja bukan islam,kadar keuntungan atas pinjaman yg agak tinggi...namun spt penjual oren itu td,memilih yg halal adalah wajib,saya nyatakan kpd kawan saya bahawa,kelemaha n itu boleh dan perlu diperbaiki dr semasa ke semasa,tp asasnya disini memilih antara islamic/syariah based berbanding riba-based,Asasnya perlu diutamakan,memi lih yg islam lebih aula dpd memilih yg bercirikan riba...dlm isu akad sendiri,saya pernah mendengar dr seorang Ustaz, yg jumhur ulama bersepakat sah jual beli walaupun tidak ada akad,kerana persetujuan membeli dan menjual telah menjelaskan maksud jual beli td...walaupun dlm mazhab Imam as-syafie, akad itu wajib,tp dlm keadaan ini kita menggunakan pandangan jumhur...mintak ustaz jelaskan atau betulkan kalau ada kesilapan yg saya tulis,
terimak kasih ustaz
Saya sedang melanjutkan PhD di Hong Kong dalam bidang maritime arbitration (perkapalan/timbangtara). Saya turut mengkaji unsur-unsur gharar dalam bidang ini. Saya ingin mendapatkan pendapat ustaz berhubung beberapa persoalan hukum terperinci membabitkan perkapalan khususnya berkenaan documentary credit.
Boleh tak ustaz meng e-mail saya agar saya boleh terus menghantar senarai persoalan berkaitan. Terima kasih didahulukan. Wassalam
UZAR : ahlan akhi yazid..tak disertakan email macam mana nak email..boleh email kod saya zaharuddin@yaho o.com
saya seorang wakil takaful ingin mendapatkan penjelasan Ustaz mengenai senario berikut:
Seorang kontraktor mendapat kontrak bernilai rm100 juta.
Beliau wajib membeli:
i)Kontraktor all risk insurance bernilai rm15,000.00
ii)Workmen Compensation Insuran bernilai rm2500.00
kedua produk ini ada disediakan oleh syarikat takaful pada harga yang sama.
Namun timbul masalah apabila,
Kontraktor ini juga wajib menyediakan Perfomance Bond (Bon Perlaksana) bernilai 5%=rm500,000.00
Pilihan yang kepada kontraktor tersebut:
i)mendapatkan Bank Guarantee dengan menyediakan Cagaran Fixed Deposit sebanyak rm500,000 dan fee sebanyak rm6000.00 setahun.
Kontraktor tersebut mendapati adalah berat baginya untuk menyediakan cash money sebanyak itu.
Pilihan kedua ialah mendapatkan Insurance Guarantee yang hanya memerlukan Cagaran Fixed Deposit sebanyak RM100,000 dan premium sebanyak rm20,000.00
Pilihan kedua adalah kurang membebankan dan mampu oleh kontraktor tersebut.
Malangnya, tiada syarikat Takaful yang menawarkan produk TAKAFUL GUARANTEE!!
JADI,
Apakah harus/halal/darurat bagi kontraktor tersebut mengambil produk Insurance Guarantee tersebut?
DAN,
Apakah harus/halal/layak/darurat untuk saya mengambil upah perkhidmatan Insurance Guarantee tersebut??
Dear UZAR, i tend to agree with the opinion given by Bro Mohd. At the end of the day, we r still stuck in the riba system despite having the so called "Islamic Banking & Finance". As long as we use paper money we will still be in Riba.
I do believe in Islamic finance and strongly support any efforts taken by governments, scholars, bankers or anyone else in strengthening the Islamic Financial System.
If we read this article,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8025410.stm, it sounds promising. But at the end of the article, Prof Habib, did mentioned that "Islamic finance in some ways is moving more and more closely to the conventional finance" and "Islamic finance appears to be mimicking most of the products of conventional finance"
I know, all bankers/scholars have done their utmost to provide best solution in Syariah Issues. But, I tend to agree with Prof Habib which, Islamic Finance need to think its future direction.
I believe if Islamic Finance works under so-called "capitalist" and "consumerism" environment, more or less, it has to follow part of their game.
So, in my mind, I have a question, Is it possible to have an alternative financial system, specifically banking system? regardless islamic banking or conventional one. Possibly, It sounds impossible.
Just want to share what I am thinking.
Thanks ustaz.
UZAR : ye betul..sebab tu saya kata, bank islam yang ada hair ini sekadar muslim tetapi tidak sampai mukmin dan taqwa lagi.
Bagaimana pandangan Uztaz mengenai perlaksanaan perbankan Islam di Malaysia dan mana2 tempat sekarang ini. Contohnya pekerja salah sebuah perbankan Islam perempuan memakai skirt, bukan Islam, dan mengamalkan cara hidup yang bertentang dgn Islam. Apakah perbankan Islam hanya pada nama berdasarkan keuntungan tanpa ada pemahaman dan penterjemahan yang lebih baik.
Saya menyokong konsep perbankan Islam yang sebenar. Cuma kebingungan. Mohon pendapat Ustaz tentang REALITI yang berlaku. Terimakasih
UZAR : isu pekerja perbankan islam berskrit telah saya ulas di web ni, rujuk artikel di link www.zaharuddin.net/.../72
As an example,can you imagine that I have to wait 2 hours (it's my turn and there's no other clients) to renew my car insurance.
That's why, yes of course personally I support the ideals of Islamic financing, but hopefully the Islamic banks/insurance can get their acts together to provide a better deal/service to their clients.
We do not want the failures of these institutions to 'fitna' the beauty of Islamic finance.
And in the end, non-Muslims will embrace the ideals of Islamic finance, improvise and provide a better service than existing Islamic institutions that's being managed by Muslims themselves.
I can see it coming, and when it happens, there's no turning back.
Is it should be "your answer is A"?
UZAR : it is really B, i have added some more clarifiaction, hope it will things clearer
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