Islamic Scholars Debate Legality of Low-Interest Loans in Morocco

Two camps emerge: on the one hand, the modernists, who welcome the effort of reflection (Ijtihad), and on the other, the Salafists, who believe that this initiative is contrary to Sharia.

Defending his initiative, the president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (UIOM), Ahmed Raissouni, indicated that the low interest rate established by the integrated support and financing program for businesses does not violate the precepts of Islam. According to him, it is a credit that is not assimilated to usury (Riba) and which is admitted by Sharia, since this initiative is neither commercial nor profitable.

"Dr. Raissouni was mistaken on this subject, because the distinction between low or high rates has never been made in any reference source in Islam. The principle of credit in Islam is that only the capital must be repaid," denounces the Salafist leader, Hassan Kettani. "No one has ever claimed that the amount must be repaid by adding or subtracting any sum, especially when the increase is a sine qua non condition for benefiting from a loan. So we enter the realm of the illicit, because usury (Riba) is categorically forbidden by Islam".