President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stood before the cameras after the Presidential Cabinet Meeting that was held in the past days and announced the “Currency Protected TL Time Deposit System” to the public.
The details of the system in question were announced by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and "The product will be processed by real persons on TL time deposit accounts, and the interest rate will be compared with the exchange rate on account opening and maturity dates; The account will be deducted at the higher rate and no withholding tax will be applied to this deposit product. For exchange rate difference calculations, the Central Bank of Turkey will publish the USD buying rate at 11:00 a.m. every day. In case the exchange rate change remains above the interest rate at the end of the maturity date, the difference that may occur will be reflected to the customer's account in TL. Accounts can be opened with maturities of 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, and the minimum interest rate will be applied as the Central Bank of Turkey policy interest rate. Any bank can join the system," it was stated.
FATWA FROM ISMAILAĞA "THIS IS HARAM"
The system, which was presented as a solution to the economic crisis and was told to the citizens in general terms, "Change your currency, put interest in the bank, we will cover the missing interest from the increase in the exchange rate, from the public resources" became the focus of public discussions.
With the new system announced by President Erdogan, the low interest-based policy discourse remained in words, while reactions from Islamic scholars on the subject rose.
In this context, Fatih Kalender, a member of the İsmailağa Fiqh Committee, who spoke about the "Currency Protected TL Time Deposit System", answered the question, "Is it permissible to have a Foreign Exchange Indexed TL Deposit Account?" with clear expressions.
Answering the question on İsmailağa Net, YouTube channel, Kalender, about the new application of the AK Party government, "It is an act that is not suitable for a Muslim. It is strictly interest. It is to declare war on God. May God protect us," he said.
“Harmful to both Muslims and non-Muslims”
Muhittin Hamdi Yıldırım, Member of the High Advisory Board of the Felicity (Saadet) Party and Chairman of the Association of Religious Officials (DİN-BİR-DER), made remarkable statements regarding the "Currency Protected TL Time Deposit System" in his statements to the Milli Gazete.
Stating that it was stated in the articles of the announced system that a system with interest was created, Yıldırım noted that a system with interest is harmful for both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Stating that Allah has abolished interest in the Qur'an, Yıldırım said that deviating from interest means declaring war against Allah and His Messenger.
"Interest makes the poor poorer and the rich richer. Interest puts the state and administration in a difficult position. States are bound to lose as long as they lubricate the wheels of the interest system. Interest is haram. It is not possible to reach the truth by the falsehood way. The end of this thing will be destroyed. With this system, a huge inflation occurs. The resort applies an interest-free system," he said.
“WE SHOULD FIND WAYS TO ESTABLISH A MUSLIM ORDER”
Milli Gazete Writer Abdülaziz Kıransal also made very important evaluations to our newspaper regarding the issue.
Drawing attention to the problems created by the interest system, Kıransal noted that in order to live in a Muslim manner, ways of establishing a Muslim order should be sought.
Kıransal, in his statement to the Milli Gazete, "The real problem with interest is not a fatwa issue, but a system and order issue. Consider a system that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Consider a system where the house is bought with interest, the car is bought with interest, the furniture is bought with interest, the wedding is held with interest. All the wheels of the economy turn on interest. Many systems such as money circulation, shopping system, debt payment system, salary system are carried out through interest-bearing banks. This whole system is dependent on the global imperialist interest rate system. In such an order, let's give a fatwa saying that this is halal and that is haram as much as we want about money transactions. The masses, who were left hungry and unemployed, enslaved by debt and interest, and driven away from their religion and morals, as a result of the Haim Nahum project, do not even have the strength to think about the fatwa. That's why it's not a matter of fatwa, it's a matter of order. As Muslims, we have to look for ways to establish a Muslim order in order to live as a Muslim, not to find a fatwa to survive in this corrupt order," he said.