Contemporary Primary Sources :: Fatwās - Contemporary :: 8 Rabīʿ II 1425 / 27 May 2004
National Shari'a Board - Indonesian Council of Ulama Fatwa No. 42 of 2004 on Shari'a Charge Cards
Dewan Syari'ah Nasional MUI, Posted by Daniel Peterson, 02 March 2016
This fatwa defines a 'shari'a charge card' as an advanced-payment card facility used by the card-holder as a mode of making a payment or withdrawing cash, which must then be repaid to the financier (mushdir al-bithaqah) before a specified time. The fatwa stipulates the following provisions and limitations for shari'a charge cards:
- must be interest-free;
- may not be used to facilitate forbidden (haram) or immoral (maksiat) transactions;
- may not be used to encourage excessive spending (israf);
- may not result in a debt that cannot be repaid (ghalabah al-dayn); and
- the primary card-holder must have the financial capacity to repay the value of the card within the specified term.
The fatwa also permits a card-issuer to charge the user a membership fee (rusum al-'udhwiyah), as well as a merchant fee (ujrah) and cash withdrawal fee (rusum sahb al-nuqud).