Question
Question: A young man wishes to marry but has nothing with which to marry, and he fears falling into the unlawful. Is it permissible for him to borrow from a usurious bank, or not?
Answer
Answer: If celibacy for a youth reaches the point where he fears falling into the prohibited and no means succeeds in suppressing desire, then in this situation it is permissible for him to borrow from a usurious bank. We only said this because:
1. Necessity permits the prohibited.
2. The scholars have said that committing zinā under coercion is not permitted; rather, a person must bear pain so as not to fall into zinā. Here, the one borrowing from the bank may bear the “pain” of the unjust increase so as not to fall into zinā.
3. The evils entailed by zinā are greater than the harms related to one who borrows from a usurious bank. Zinā entails the loss and confusion of lineage, the corruption of a woman against her husband or family, attaching disgrace to the woman and to her family and husband, etc. As for the harms of the one who pays ribā, he is wronged by the increase; while the threat mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah is directed against the taker of ribā.
4. Taking a loan is permissible; what is prohibited is to repay more than what was taken.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2
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