According to Islamic law, interest is prohibited.

Prohibition of Interest

The word used in connection with interest in the Quran is Riba, the connotation of which is not identical with that of the word “interest” as commonly understood. Riba is prohibited because it tends to draw wealth into the hands of a small circle and to restrict the exercise of beneficence towards one’s fellow beings. In the case of loans which bear interest, the lender in effect takes advantage of, and makes profit from, the need or distress of another.

2:276. Those who devour interest do not rise except as rises one whom Satan has smitten with insanity. That is because they say: ‘Trade also is like interest;’ whereas Allah has made trade lawful and made interest unlawful. So he to whom an admonition comes from his Lord and he desists, then will that which he received in the past be his; and his affair is with Allah. And those who revert to it, they are the inmates of the Fire; therein shall they abide.

2:277. Allah abolishes interest and causes charity to increase. And Allah loves not anyone who is a confirmed disbeliever and an arch-sinner.

2:278. Surely, those who believe and do good deeds and observe Prayer and pay the Zakat shall have their reward from their Lord, and no fear shall come on them, nor shall they grieve.

2:279. O ye who believe! fear Allah and relinquish what remains of interest, if you are believers.

2:280. But if you do it not, then beware of war from Allah and His Messenger; and if you repent, then you shall have your original sums; thus you shall not wrong, nor shall you be wronged.

2:281. And if any debtor be in straitened circumstances, then grant him respite till a time of ease. And that you remit it as charity shall be better for you, if only you knew.

2:282. And fear the day when you shall be made to return to Allah; then shall every soul be paid in full what it has earned; and they shall not be wronged.

source https://www.alislam.org/book/selected-verses-holy-quran/prohibition-of-interest/

Unfortunately, even in Muslim majority countries, the charging of interest is paramount. Take for instance Indonesia. Besides may be main cities like Jakarta public transport is practically non existent. Therefore every one needs either a car or a motor cycle. All young children are dropped to school and the elder ones go on their own motorbikes. But, of course, the majority of the people do not have the cash to buy a motor bike and therefore practically all bikes (and most cars) that you see on the road are bought on monthly instalments. And of course interest is being charged. A lot.

The sales people even try their utmost to convince even those that could manage the cash to buy the bike or car by instalments. ‘Cash back’ is offered and free insurance cover. But of course these ‘benefits’ are just a small part of the additional interest being charged.

And then when the bike may be paid off and the owner needs cash, no problem, get a loan and give the bike paper as a security. Or, do you own a bike but a relative needs cash: ‘may i please borrow your bike paper’? ‘I will pay the monthly repayment’. Yeah, may be for the first 2 or 3 months, and then?

And this is only a small part of the interest mafia. On your mobile phone appear advertisements ‘easy credit’. ‘Just click here’. And then criminal interest rates are charges, starting with 10 percent per months and proceeding to 10 percent per week!

The police is supposed to intervene and stop this kind of thing, but if they stop one then the next day he operates in another name.

And of course the problem is not limited to Indonesia. We hear of suicides because of loan shark entrapment all over Asia. India, Pakistan and other countries.

‘Repaying a loan shark was three years of living hell’

1 February 2024

Sam Nanda

BBC News

People who use loans sharks have been “driven to the brink of suicide”, investigators have said.

The Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) said fear, intimidation and control were being used by loan sharks to keep people quiet.

Anna, whose name has been changed, said three years of repaying a £1,000 loan was “living hell”.

She had borrowed it from a loan shark after leaving home at 17, but was soon facing having to shoplift to eat.

She was also left feeling terrified about falling behind with repayments and “always struggling” to try to get money to keep a roof over her head.

She said she believed the stress of it all may have caused her to suffer a miscarriage.

“It was three years of a living hell,” she said.

“It wasn’t spelled out, but it was a very stern warning: ‘Do not miss your payments’.

“I didn’t want to take that chance.”

She said the strain of it led her to “being arrested for shoplifting, because that was my only way of having food because I’d made that payment”.

“It has an adverse effect on your mental and physical health [and causes] relationship issues because of the added stress,” she said.

“I did have a miscarriage and I do believe, looking back now, that did have a lot to do with the stress and anxiety.

“You don’t realise what you’re getting yourself into.”

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has estimated that there were currently 1.1 million people in England in debt to illegal money lenders and found the North-West region had the highest number of arrests of loan sharks in the country.

In the last six years, the IMLT in England has undertaken 263 operations and arrested 327 loan sharks.

Its figures showed 21% of operations were in the North-West over the last six years and new figures, given exclusively to BBC North West, showed 75% of the IMLT’s operations conducted in January 2024 took place in the region.

Cath Wohlers, operations manager of the IMLT, said that does not necessarily mean there are more loan sharks in the area.

The higher rate of arrests, she said, was down to the IMLT building great relationships with Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire police forces, that enabled intelligence to flow between them.

She said that while it was not illegal to borrow money from a loan shark, going to an unregulated lender could leave people vulnerable to tactics that had driven some victims to “the brink of suicide”.

“It’s hammering on your door at 05:00 and terrifying the kids, it’s shaming you on social media or telling your boss to watch out because you might have your hand in the till, because you owe them money,” she said.

“It’s 150 messages a day saying, ‘You owe me money, you owe me’.

“It just drives people to the brink of suicide, it really has an impact.

If you’re affected by the issues in this piece, you can find support from BBC Action Line.

She said the “other side” of the issue was “the financial side”.

“We work with people who’ve borrowed maybe £500 and paid back literally tens of thousands,” she said.

“That means they’re not paying their rent, not paying their mortgage, they’re in council tax arrears and they have all this legitimate debt piling up that they really struggle to get out of.”

Ms Wohlers added that the exact number of victims was still unknown, because discussing debt for so many was shrouded in shame.

Anna said she was introduced to the loan shark through an extended family member and had not understood the terms of the loan.

She said she had not wanted to speak out so decided to take the money then and there.

“I ended up paying back pretty much double, with the interest and everything that was paid back,” she said.

“I’d never ever put myself in that situation again, never.

“If I had friends or family who were even thinking of going down that route, I’d do everything I could to tell them, ‘No’.”

source https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-68145012

Therefore: let’s follow Islamic Law and keep away from Interest !!!!!