Money, Interest, Banks, Governments & Slavery
Like we have learnt since our childhood, throughout history, there existed various forms of slavery. In the dark ages, people were captured and sold on the slave markets. Thereafter, the colonial masters enslaved entire nations. Today, we have perhaps the most intricate network of enslavement strategies… such strategies that threaten to enslave the entire human race.
The institution of “Riba” (interest/usury) through financial houses like the World Bank and (the) IMF govern and control practically every developing country in the world. Under the guise of foreign aid, the mineral wealth of an entire country is usurped and every individual directly or indirectly contributes to servicing the foreign debt of his country. A child is born into this world already indebted. Indebtedness is the unique inheritance and heritage bestowed on him by his country. The tragedy is that these injustices not only go unpunished, they go unrecognized. And people find themselves slaves to the permanent institution of such banks and banking systems that are heartless and power thirst.
Thinkers who knew the inside-out dealings and transactions of such systems have warned us about their dangers. There is a saying [also known as the Stamp’s Law] which is quoted to be that of Lord Josiah Stamp, a director of the Bank of England who made the following statement before he was killed in the German bombing called the Blitz. The saying is as follows: “Banking was conceived in inequity and born in sin. Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them but leave them with the power to create credit and with a flick of a pen; they will create enough money to buy it all back again…. If you want to be slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let bankers control money and control credit”.
Back in August 1924, the US Bankers Magazine cynically stated: “Capital must protect itself in every possible manner by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected; bonds and mortgages must be foreclosed as rapidly as possible. When, through a process of law, the common people lose their homes they will become more docile and more easily governed through the influence of the strong arm of government, applied by a central power of wealth under control of leading financiers.”
Benjamin Disraeli, one time Prime Minister
of Britain once stated: “The world is governed by very different personages
from what is imagined, by those who are behind the scenes. Governments do not govern;
they merely control the machinery of government, being themselves controlled by
the hidden hand”.
Under the prevailing monetary system which has worsened over time, none of us lives in a true democracy. We live under an oligarchy that is all powerful, permanent (unless and until God Almighty overturns it), and responsible to no one and directly or indirectly dominated, and restricts every individual and every government in the world.
True democracy is utopia in the present era. It is a fantasy which is never attained. True democracy would involve a world free of corruption and a fair sharing of the riches, bringing the gap between rich and poor to the strict minimal, even to naught! Islam has made every provision for it, but neither the world governments nor the rest of the Muslim world is interested in putting in practice the laws of God Almighty.
When we look at the larger Muslim world, especially in the Middle East in such powerful countries as Arabia as governed by the Saudis, we see not an ideal implementation of Islam but a mockery of what Islam stands for. All the hard works of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) have been trampled to dust. In a supposedly Muslim country, Saudi Arabia has cut the throat of Islam in a most dangerous way. But it is not too late to remediate the situation. If the new generations of Arabs get the spirit of Islam insufflated in them and work towards the consolidation of Islam instead of its destruction, Islam can be saved. But there is a lot of work to do. Realisation needs to flare up their minds first. If they do not realise that they are wrong and are building up a fantasy land using Islam as bait or excuse, then the situation will continue to be chaotic. Those in power, and who use their power and authority to rule even governments, they are the ones also to graph the economics’ status-quo in their favour. They are the “hidden hand”. They play with money. They play with the economy. When they want, they create money and when they want, they can stop an economy from functioning properly, citing a critical situation, leaving the people to debate on it.
Today’s situation with the coronavirus is such an example. The US Bankers Magazine (25 August 1924) also stated: “This truth is well known among our principal men now engaged in forming an imperialism of Capital to govern the world. By dividing the voters through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance.”
The world and all that happens within it
has indeed become a stage of debate for many issues, sometimes very trivial but
which those in power use to deviate the people’s minds away from the main
issues. Lots of important issues such as the reducing of the gap between the rich
and the poor, the equal rights of the people to education, food and a decent
life, protecting our physical, social, economic and spiritual environment for
the welfare of our own beings so that we may come to realise God, all these
rights are usurped by the “hidden hand” of the false democracy which strives to
carve the world according to their own greed and liking.
Interest (Riba) in the financial world is killing and destroying families, making them lose their homes, possessions and dignity. Mortgages, non-payment of loans… all these are poisons of the society. And the sharks of the financial world, who are unnamed and faceless and who control even the banking system and governments, they are the ones who strive to control a country and even the world and to model it as per their liking. For such vultures, people losing their homes and all their belongings, people living in extreme poverty, and those who are striving for their basic rights are mere headaches which are quickly dealt with by… ignoring them! Leaving them in their miseries!
What people don’t realise: money does not make happiness. It can contribute to your flimsy material comfort, but in the long run, you will have to abandon it all and return to your Almighty God. Allah will not judge you according to how much money and power you had and exuded in this world. He will judge you according to your intentions, your actions and the extent of the spirituality which you have strived to build up to consolidate your piety and your fear for Him (Allah) in justice, humility and righteousness.
So do not become puppets in the hands of
the system established by man to control you and to rob you of your wealth, be
it your properties, worldly riches, but what is more important, do not let THE SYSTEM of this world divide you, O people, to
better rule you.
What do we notice nowadays? People are divided among themselves. Each keeps to himself and looks after his own riches and wellbeing, not being concerned by his neighbours.
Politics have divided the people into many groups. Even in politics, there are castes, not only in religion! And what is most unfortunate; the people are letting themselves trapped by this kind of slavery. The world as it is now has become a body of desire for the people when in fact it is carrion. The people are letting the mundanely powerful rule their lives and possessions when they should have turned to God Almighty and strive to increase their level of spirituality, to sharpen their souls to the exquisiteness of God’s love. They have let themselves be seduced by the slave masters of this world, happily become the slaves of such people devoid of morality and piety. These sharks are the satanic figures who strive to divide the people and to drive them away from God Almighty.
Banks have been erected not to facilitate people but to rob them of their hard-earned money, thirsting on them like preys and sucking their blood, leaving them helpless, afraid and unsecure.
The history of money is one unbroken
history of fraud. It is commonly supposed that a banker’s profit consists of
the difference between the interest he pays for the money he borrows and the
interest he charges for the money he lends. The fact is that a banker’s profits
consist exclusively in the profits he can make by creating and issuing credit
in excess of the liquid assets he holds in reserve and in exchange for debts
payable at a future time.
God Almighty says in the Holy Quran: “Those who consume interest will stand like those driven to madness by Satan’s touch. Those who after receiving direction from their Lord, desist, shall be pardoned for the past; their case is for Allah (to judge); but those who repeat (the offence) are companions of the Fire: In it shall they abide.” (Al-Baqara 2: 276)
“O you who believe, fear ALLAH and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if you are truly believers. But if you fail to do so, then be warned of war from Allah and His Messenger.” (Al-Baqara 2: 279-280)
What greater threat could there be than the declaration of war by Allah and His prophet? Allah does not fight with armaments. The wrath of Allah descends in ways that are impossible to oppose or avert; Murder, fear, crime and bankruptcy, are but some of the missiles that suddenly shatter our lives when Allah declares war against us. It does not mean that Allah promotes murder, crime or any evil, but the war He declares against such fiery disobedient servants is that His help does not reach them when they befriend Satan and let satanic desires invade them to such an extent that Satan becomes their god and Allah (swt) becomes their enemy (May Allah preserve us from such an abominable end!) They indulge in all kinds of sins, and let go of the essence of faith to take pleasure in the temporary luxuries of this world.
Abdur Rahman Ibn Abdullah Ibn Masud (ra) has quoted the Holy prophet (pbuh) to have said: “When usury and fornication appear in a community, the people of the community render themselves deserving of the punishment of Allah.” (Al-Hakim)
In another tradition, reported by Jabir (ra), our beloved prophet (pbuh) said: “Allah has cursed the one who takes interest, the one who pays it, the one who writes the contract and the one who witnesses the contract. And he (pbuh) said: They are all the same.” (Muslim)
The Holy Quran states: “Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity: For He does not love the disbelieving and ungrateful.” (Al-Baqara 2: 277)
Wealth, property and profits gained through
Riba (interest) will wither away. Ibn Masud (ra) reports that our
beloved prophet (pbuh) said: “Even though usury (may initially) multiply, it
will ultimately lead to poverty”.
So, my dear Muslim brothers, sisters and children and all humanity, bear in mind that humans like yourselves are trying to control your lives and set a price to it; such interest which you must pay throughout your lives, a never-ending vicious circle.
The power of the “hidden hand” in international politics has always been economics. Economics ‘aid’ is too often the Trojan Horse of all other ills. Political independence is an aspect of government that is not too popular with the appendage of the ‘hidden hand’. Experiences of late are clear proof of how the instruments of debilitating power can weaken and annihilate those that consume the sweetened hemlock. Above all of this, the system of interest as economic enslavement is well documented!
Usury and its consequences such as debt,
joblessness, and crime have entrenched a new and insidious kind of servitude.
Entire nations have been bonded to the usury warlords and bankers. The mass
enslavement of even future generations has no parallel in the history of
humankind.
This need to change, but how to change it is through the decrease of your desire to acquire money to obtain happiness. Remember, happiness cannot be bought with money. What a simple person needs is money or a financial system which enables him to get a good and unrestricted access to his basic needs such food, clothing, and shelter, and a Halal (licit) work to sustain his family and daily needs. Such needs should be within the scope of the lawful and attained through the lawful.
Unfortunately the slave masters of this world are hell-bent in trying to dominate the masses and render them helpless. Therefore, only a return to Allah will cause the Almighty’s fury to capsize the ill-gotten fortunes of the slave masters of today and render them helpless. A tiny ant can cause an elephant to stumble and fall. Likewise, a tiny virus, invisible to the naked eye can annihilate many lives, some innocent and some not so innocent. This is one of the pictures of the End of times, a trailer to a most horrific end.
May Allah bring about a change in the hearts of the people, cause them to reflect and be compassionate and to turn this world, not into a hell but into a paradise for pious undertakes. If such vultures do not reform and stop enslaving the people [anywhere in the world], I pray: May Allah cause a breakdown in their fortunes and health to such an extent that the people of world may feel once again free from the bondage of this invisible but inextricable slavery. May Allah drown those Pharaohs! Only Allah has the power to do it, but the people, His servants must first of all realise their current situation of enslavement to a supposed all-power whereas He, Allah is the Most Powerful and Unique Lord and deserving of exclusive worship [without ascribing any partner to Him in His worship]. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 05 February 2021~22 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1442 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.