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It is a severe transgression to lend money with interest, as this involves taking advantage of someone else’s hardship for personal gain. As a result of taking out loans with interest, people sometimes lose their homes and everything they own. In the past, this could even lead to someone being sold into slavery. Often, adversity which leads people to borrow is ongoing, and the interest keeps compounding until it utterly ruins borrowers and their families. Those who participate in lending with interest (the witnesses or guarantors) are guilty of being accessories. The borrower is sinning as well. Therefore, someone in a financial crisis must make every possible effort to get through it without taking out an interest-bearing loan.
