In the Name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
Prohibited Ar-Riba
Extract from QUR’AANIC
STUDIES – A Modern Tafsir PART I:
275. Allatheena
ya/kuloona alrriba la yaqoomoona illa kama
yaqoomu allathee yatakhabbatuhu alshshaytanu mina
almassi thalika bi-annahum qaloo innama albayAAu mithlu alrriba
waahalla Allahu albayAAa waharrama alrriba
faman jaahu mawAAithatun min rabbihi faintaha
falahu ma salafa waamruhu ila Allahi waman AAada
faola-ika as-habu alnnari hum feeha
khalidoona
2:275. Those who consume Ar-Riba514
live not but like those whom Satan makes to stumble on in life, under his spell515.
That is because they assert, "Business is just like Ar-Riba.516"
And Allah has made business lawful and Ar-Riba unlawful. He, then, to
whom admonition has come from his Lord and has since abstained from Ar-Riba
– to him belongs what happened in the past. And to Allah returns his deed.517
And those who rebel – they shall be inhabitants of the hellfire, therein to
remain forever.
514. In Verse 30:39, Allah declares, "That which
you give at a premium, so that the gain accrued is on account of other people's
properties, possessions or dues, such a gain has no approval of Allah
...." In that Verse, Allah has clearly expressed his disapproval of gains
that are rightfully due to others, but manoeuvred to be usurped from them in
day-to-day human dealings. An example can be given of a factory owner cheating
the workers employed, in their salaries, to have a fatter profit for himself.
Such gains, wrongfully usurped from others and disapproved of by Allah in Verse
30:39, are here in this Verse, 2:275, made totally unlawful. And such gains are
termed as Ar-Riba, literally meaning the gain/increase, to distinguish it
from lawfully obtained gains as through trading, giving services etc. It is
unfortunate that most Muslim scholars have given a wrongly restrictive meaning
of 'interest on money lent or borrowed' to the Qur'aanic term.
515. Under the satanic spell, people become reluctant
to believe in any life after death. They therefore tend to believe that this
worldly life is the be-all and end-all of human existence. And they try to get
the most out of it. With no fear of any divine punishment, they stumble on from
one wrongdoing to another and consume Ar-Riba to get rich quickly and
enjoy all that money can buy. But the happiness and enjoyment, that they seek,
ever eludes them like a mirage.
516. I have no knowledge of the people who said this at
the time of revelation of this Verse. But I know people who say this now in
this 21st Century (15th Century Hijri). I know people who say, 'Banking
business is Ar-Riba', whereas Allah has categorically made business
lawful and Ar-Riba unlawful. Business is an activity by a person or by a
group of persons to make things or services conveniently available to the public.
Manufacturing and trading businesses make goods conveniently available and there
are firms, like those of solicitors, who provide services to the public. Likewise,
banking business provides money for needful projects that an individual or a
group of individuals undertake, but for which the individual, or the group,
doesn't have all the necessary finance. Banking is therefore a legitimate
business fulfilling a social need. Like other businesses, banking business too
is legitimately entitled to a reasonable profit for itself. It is also entitled
to recover expenses incurred like staff salaries, building rentals etc., on pro
rata basis from its clientele. And a bank does recover its expenses plus profit
and calls this recovery as interest. Such interest gets divinely sanctioned
when this Verse 2:275 declares that Allah has made business lawful. But the Satan
has succeeded in inducing many Muslim scholars in declaring such legitimate
interest collected as Ar-Riba! Ar-Riba, I repeat, is wrongful
usurpation, during transactions, of other people's properties, possessions or
dues, in terms of Verse 30:39. Ar-Riba is not interest, as such.
517. Whatever Ar-Riba gains people had made
before they became aware of the divine prohibition against it, could be
retained with those people, provided they abided by the prohibition thereafter.
Their matter is left for Allah Himself to deal with as He wished. Allah, in His
mercy, may forgive them – but not those who consciously act against the divine
prohibition.
Friday, the 4th of
October 2019.
