Interest bearing loans & Transactions

Paying interest on debts

Q:

1. I have a very old debt of almost 15 years back that some of the places I have the debt with has written it off and some is still charging me interest. Am I liable to pay this interests?

2. And on the other hand a friend bought things on my account also 15 years ago and the place is still holding me accountable, however the person that bought the goods have passed away. Am I liable for this account?

Merchant Cash Advance from Shopify

Q: I want to know about the Merchant Cash Advance from Shopify is halal or haram. Below are some details about the advance money they give, A merchant cash advance is a lump sum (called the amount received) that you receive from Shopify Capital in return for selling to Shopify Capital a set amount of your future sales revenue (called the total to remit). The amount received is deposited into your business bank account, and then a percentage of your daily sales is remitted to Shopify Capital until the total to remit has been completely remitted. For example, Shopify Capital might advance you $5,000 to purchase $5,650 of your future revenue, with a remittance rate of 10%. The $5,000 amount received would be delivered to your business bank account, and Shopify Capital would receive 10% of your daily sales revenue until the full $5,650 total to remit has been remitted. There is no deadline for remitting the total to remit to Shopify Capital. The daily remittance amount is determined by your store's daily sales, since the remittance rate is a percentage of your store's daily sales. The remittance amount is automatically debited from your business bank account. Shopify Capital is offering advance amounts between $5,000 and $50,000. The total to remit and remittance rate depend on your risk profile.

Declaring war with Allah Ta'ala by dealing in interest

Q: My older brother is the head of the household and he makes most of the financial decisions for me. A while ago he made me apply for a loan that I would have to pay interest on. Now that I know that paying interest is haram, I've tried hard to convince him to cancel the loan and even told him about valid Islamic sources to show that it is a grave sin. He simply said that we're in a tough situation and I need the loan to go to college so exceptions have to be made. And he went on to add, "These online muftis don't know the difficulties our family goes through to put bread on the table." I'm in a situation where I have no control in returning the loan before interest starts accruing on it since he has control over the bank account. I fear that my family will lash out at me and maybe even cut family ties from me for putting them through difficulties for my own beliefs since they don't follow Islam as closely as I do. I'm very scared of the consequences I will have to face for letting him force me into taking a loan in which I will pay riba on. Please let me know of any way to deal with this sin that I see no way of avoiding. I would even pay 10 times the amount in sadaqa as I took in the loan (later on in my life) if I have to.

Taking out interest bearing student loans

Q:

1. What is the status of permissibility with regard to student loans? Here in Australia, we have the option of paying back all or some of the loan, but it has some form of interest (indexing) applied to it. These loans are usually taken out by university students.

2. What about those who have already taken out a loan and do not wish to pay back? The Australian law requires a re-payment of the loan incrementally in the form of income tax, which only becomes mandatory if and when the debtor is earning above a minimum yearly salary.