Fellow Muslims: When taking a loan, think twice...

Nowadays, it is common to obtain numerous credit cards (be it 'Islamic' or otherwise), at times, with the banks themselves offering to increase the credit limit without much hassle from us. Then there is the other 'low-interest' or 'no-interest' financial products out in the dual-banking market. One cannot help that in Brunei, the development of these debt-related products has something to do with restrictions on personal loans/financing back in 2005.

When it comes to personal financing (loans), the government in Brunei has restricted the relative ease of attaining loan, but one wonders how low had the level of personal financing fallen overall? It would be interesting and more importantly, learningful (I know there's no such word) to analyze the following:

• Has personal financing actually dropped in the past 2 years, post-2005 rulings?
• What is the categories of personal borrowers in this case? The middle-class? The high-income group? Or no particular generalization?

I sincerely hope this does not become privileged information, as Brunei aims to enhance its financial knowledge to the masses. In this case, sharing the data available would make Bruneians more finance-conscious.

In the global context of the credit crisis and confidence crisis, a need for Bruneians to enhance their financial planning know-how is a must. We must consider what kind of people we want to be: A consumer society or a producer society? A knowledge-able society or a dependent-society?

Reading the book 'How To Calculate Inheritance: A Simple Approach' by Shakil Ahmad Khan (2004) has me a bit worried on debt management in Brunei. A hadith narrated by Salamah ibn al-Akwa' reads:

Once, while we were sitting in the company of the Prophet (peace be upon him), a dead man was brought. The Prophet was requested to lead the funeral prayer for the deceased. He said, "Is he in debt?" The people replied in the negative. He said, "Has he left any wealth?" They said, "No." So, he led his funeral prayer.

Another dead man was brought and the people said, "O Allah's Messenger! Lead his funeral prayer." The Prophet said, "Is he in debt?" They said, "Yes." He said, "Has he left any wealth?" They said, "Three Dinars." So he led the prayer.

Then a third dead man was brought and the people said (to the Prophet), Please lead his funeral prayer." He said, "Has he left any wealth?" They said, "No." He asked, "Is he in debt?" They said ("Yes! He has to pay) Three Diners." He (refused to pray and) said, "Then pray for your (dead) companion." Abu Qatadah said, "O Allah's Messenger! Lead his funeral prayer, and I will pay his debt." So, he led the prayer. (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Another Hadith narrated by Muhammad ibn Jahsh reads:

One day while we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he raised his head towards the sky, then put his palm on his forehead, then said: "Glory be to Allah, how sternly it has been revealed"! We remained silent and terrified.

On the next day I asked. "O Messenger of Allah what is that stern (message) that has been revealed?" On this he (peace be upon him) said: By Him in whose hand is my soul, even if a man is killed (martryed) in the way of Allah, then revived, then killed again, then revived again - and he is under debt - he will never enter Paradise until his debt is cleared." (Sunan an-Nasa'i)

For me, it makes one think.

Forget about the loans and credit cards that one may hold...what about the debt in bills that one may have that may have build up, i.e. the water and electricity bills. I recall a few months back or so, a news article related to how much Bruneians owe for their usage of utilities. Is this not a form of debt? If we were to die shortly, whom will pay our debt? How? How certain are we? A scary thought.

Wassalam.