মাসিক আত-তাহরীক Interest and Islam
The stand point of Islam about interest is clear, most strict and uncompromising.The dictates of Allah in this regard is narrated in Surah Al-Baqarah. In this very Surah it is said,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَذَرُوا مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ الرِّبَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ (278) فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُوا فَأْذَنُوا بِحَرْبٍ مِنَ اللهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَإِنْ تُبْتُمْ فَلَكُمْ رُءُوسُ أَمْوَالِكُمْ لَا تَظْلِمُونَ وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَ (279)
"O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah and give up what remains (due to you) from Riba (from now onward), if you are (really) believers. And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allah and His messenger (pbuh) but if you repent, you shall have capital sums. Deal not unjustly (by asking more than your capital sums), and you shall not be dealt with unjustly (by receiving less than your capital sums)". (Al-Baqarah : 278-79)
Allah SWT narrates in the same surah, what will be the state of the usurers in Akhirah (the Day of Resurrection).
الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَا لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ مِثْلُ الرِّبَا وَأَحَلَّ اللهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا فَمَنْ جَاءَهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ فَانْتَهَى فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ (275)
"Those who take Riba will not stand (on the Day of Resurrection) except like the standing of a person beaten by ٍShaitan (Satan) leading him to insanity. That is because they say: Business is only like Riba". (Al-Baqarah : 275)
About the dealings of interest the famous companion Jabir ibn Abdullah (RA) said,
لَعَنَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ آكِلَ الرِّبَا وَمُوكِلَهُ وَكَاتِبَهُ وَشَاهِدَيْهِ وَقَالَ هُمْ سَوَاءٌ
"Allah's Messenger (pbuh) cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and who witnesses to it, and he said: they are all equal". (Muslim, Mishkat H/2807)
In the holy Quran various kinds of sins are mentioned and prohibited. Severe punishment and threats are meted out for those. But nothing is as strong and terse as with interest. That is why the Prophet (pbuh) lodged an all out struggle against interest to stop its dealings and root it out from every sphere of the society and economy. For example, when the treaty with the Christians of Nazran was signed he wrote to them clearly, "If you deal with usury, the treaty will stand void and we have to fight against you."
The business of interest of Bonu Mugheerah was widely known throughout Arabia. Soon after the victory of Makkah Allah's Messenger cancelled all their dues due to interest and wrote to his representative in Makkah that "If they (Bonu Mugheerah) do not stop taking Riba, fight against them."
The invalidity of Riba is proved by eight verses (ayah) of Al-Quran (Al-Baqarah: 275-276, 278-280; Al-Imran: 130; An-Nisa: 161 and Ar-Rum: 39) and more than forty Hadeeths. Some important Hadeeths are mentioned below:
(1) Narrated Abu Hurairah (RA): Allah's Messenger (pbuh) said, الرِّبَا سَبْعُونَ جُزْءاً أَيْسَرُهَا أَنْ يَنْكِحَ الرَّجُلُ أُمَّهُ "Interest (its sins) has seventy grades. The lowest grade of sin is to commit adultery with one's own mother". (Ibn Mazah, H/2274, Mishkat H/2826; Sanad saheeh)
(2) Narrated Abdullah Ibn Hanzala (RA): Allah's Messenger said, دِرْهَمُ رِبًا يَأْكُلُهُ الرَّجُلُ وَهُوَ يَعْلَمُ أَشَدُّ مِنْ سِتَّةٍ وَثَلاَثِينَ زَنْيَةً "If anyone takes Riba of one Dirham knowingly, his sin is commiting adultery more than thirty six times". (Musnad Al-Ahmad, Mishkat H/2825, Sanad saheeh)
(3) Abu Burdah Ibn Abu Musa, a famous Tabayee and the Qazi of Kufa said, I went to Madinah and met the Sahabee Abdullah Ibn Salam (RA). He said to me, "You live in such a region where interest is wide spread. So, if you have any dues to someone and he presents you merely a bag of husks or barley or a bundle of grass, yet you do not accept it, because it will be Riba". (Bukhari, Mishkat H/2833)
(4) Narrated Hazrat Ali (RA) that لَعَنَ آكِلَ الرِّبَا وَمُؤْكِلَهُ وَكَاتِبَهُ وَمَانِعَ الصَّدَقَةِ وَكَانَ يَنْهَى عَنِ النَّوْحِ "He i.e. Ali (R) heard Allah's Messenger cursing the usurer, the payer of interest, one who records it and the denier to give Sadaqat (Deeds of charity, alms, etc) and he used to forbid wailing for the dead". (Nasayee, Mishkat H/2829, Sanad saheeh because of shawahed i.e.similar examples)
(5) Narrated Abdullah Ibn Masu‘ud (RA): "Allah's Messenger said, إِنَّ الرِّبَا وَإِنْ كَثُرَ فَإنَّ عَاقِبَتَهُ تَصِيْرُ إِلَى قُلٍّ "However Riba increases the wealth, its eventual consequence is destitution". (Ibn Mazah, Mishkat H/2827, Sanad saheeh)
From the above mentioned hadeeths, some important points about interest emerge very clearly. For example, those who are involved in interest will be considered as the greatest sinners. A little thing, even a small gift to the creditor, will be considered as interest. The ultimate result of interest will be poverty. Interest may be of various types. Days will come when interest will spread worldwide and no one would be able to escape from it. The sin of interest is of the worst types. So, regarding interest it is necessary to adopt the highest awareness, and take the most extensive step to stop its spread and eradicate it from the society.
Allah's Messenger, the best friend of the world humanity, did not forget to mention this point even in his last public speech. He is really Rahmatullil Alamin and has left his mark in the historic lecture of his farewell pilgrimage (Hajjatul wada‘). In that remarkable lecture, he broke the poisonous teeth of exploitation forever just through a mighty declaration, expressing that “All the interest of the age of Jahiliyah is cancelled forthwith and I declare the nullification of all interest due to Abbas Ibn Abdul Muttalib of our clan”. (Tareekhut Tabari: Seerat Ibn Hisham).
The result of that declaration was far reaching. In the Umayyad and the Abbasid regime when Islam spread beyond more than half of the world and reigned for about nine hundred years, no where there existed interest. No transaction, no trade and commerce were done on the basis of interest. Later on, when the sway of luxury, amusement and self-forgetting crippled the Muslims, the imperialist powers of Europe got the opportunity to defeat them and destroy their economic backbone. The imperialists established their absolute supremacy in trade and commerce and factors of production.
The Muslim countries and societies could not build up any resistance against these imperialists rather they went out into oblivion. At the same time, following the industrial revolution in Europe, interest was brought forth again in new format and technique spreading all over the world covering every sphere of the society. The development of modern banking system was closely associated with the industrial revolution. Through the banking system multi-dimensional exploitation of interest got extensively deep-rooted in the society. Insurance companies and other financial institutions added fuel to it. Interest was formally institutionalized. Now capital is being rotated among the riches which is strictly forbidden in the holy Quran, and more and more new ways of economic oppression and exploitation are widely spreading even at the grass root level of the society from the grip of which it is not easy to get rid of.
