Tradition

"إيّاكُمْ وَ الْدَّيْنَ فَإنَّهُ هَمٌّ بِاللَيْلِ، وَ ذُلٌ بِالنَّهارِ!”

The Holy Prophet (S) is narrated to have said: “Stay away from taking loans as much as possible, for it brings sorrow during the nights and abjectness during the days.”1

Brief Commentary

The glitter of the modern-day lifestyle and the never-ending race for gathering up newer and better things has caused a great number of people to place themselves into debt. Unfortunately, this debt is without any real need or purpose and it causes great difficulties in their lives. Someone who is indebted is not really a free individual and it is for this reason that we have been instructed in Islam not to take loans unless there is a pressing need for it. What we have mentioned about individuals also applies to societies and nations as well. A nation should be wary of becoming indebted to others, for such debt can cause them to become slaves and it can chip away at their independence and freedom.

• 1. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 103, p. 141.