Prohibition of Riba interest and its philosophy : proof of prohibition of interest

Fatawa Question

Dearest Dr. As-Salamu Alaykum Pls. answer this question. The man is speaking on Riba : On September 17, 2007, Imam Abdu Rahman Bin Mohammad al-Harbi (our local Imam) talked about "Riba" (usury) and warned the Muslims about the gravity of this sin. The Imam mentioned that taking Riba is equal to committing "Zina" (adultery / fornication) seventy-two times with one's own mother. I have read and heard about Riba being a big sin but never read or heard about it being a sin of the magnitude of committing incest with your mother seventy-two times. On my request, the Imam did not provide any proof. Please let me see the proof. All translators (Asad, Yusuf Ali, Pickthall, Shakir, and Mohsin) of the Holy Quran in English have translated the word "Riba" as usury. The meaning of the word "usury" in English (The American Heritage, Merriam Webster, Cambridge, and Oxford dictionaries) is : exorbitant, unconscionable, excessive, illegally high, very much larger amount, and unreasonably high rate of interest. Only one verse in the Holy Quran (the family of Imran : 130) defines Riba as doubled and multiplied : 3 : 130 O ye who believe ! Devour not usury, doubled and multiplied ; but fear Allah that ye may (really) prosper. يا أيها الذين آمنوا لا تأكلوا الربا أضعافا مضاعفة و اتقوا الله لعلكم تفلحون At the time ; of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), there were no banking institutions, governmental controls, and regulations to regulate lending and borrowing. The moneylenders were charging exorbitant rates (may be to protect their investment in an unregulated market). All the Ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) clearly indicate that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is addressing individuals and not institutions. Those individuals of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) time can be considered the modern-day loan sharks as the pay-day loans. There are other Ahadith telling us that when the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) owed money, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) always returned more than what he owed. Was it a practical lesson that the value of currency depreciates over time ? Also, the above verse of the Holy Quran is forbidding "devouring" or eating Riba. Only a lender eats Riba. A borrower is not eating Riba ; therefore, it should not be a sin to pay interest. Many Muslims cannot buy house, car, or start a business because of the fear of committing the sin of Riba. The entrepreneurial abilities of Muslims are suppressed because of the fear of committing the sin of eating Riba while, in fact, the borrower is not eating Riba. Today's "Islamic financial institutions" are not much different from the banking institutions. They are playing the game of words (semantics) : calling it "reward" or "profit" instead of "compounding interest" for bank accounts and "return on capital" instead of "interest rate" on mortgage loans to induce customers. If changing words makes it Islamic, than, I guess, calling "wine," an alcoholic beverage, grape juice would make it permissible. In my humble and "unknowledgeable" position, the modern day interest charged by banking institutions is not usury because the rates are negotiated, loans and bank accounts are protected by state laws and regulations, loans can be renegotiated, and finally, the borrower has the option to declare bankruptcy to protect his / her other assets. The banking institutions provide respite when a borrower is in difficultly. Do they follow the commandment of Allah SubhanahuwaTaala in the following verse of the Holy Quran ? al-Baqara 2 : 280 if the debtor is in a difficulty, grant him time till it is easy for him to repay. But if ye remit it by way of charity, that is best for you if ye only knew. و إن كان ذو عسرة فنظرة إلى ميسرة و أن تصدقوا خير لكم إن كنتم تعلمون The Muslim scholars, knowledgeable persons, have a tendency to explain the meanings of the Holy Quran and Ahadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) very narrowly. The narrow and restricted meanings have created problems for Muslims in the past. We were not able to compete with non-Muslims because of the fear of committing sins. As I remember, the following acts by Muslims were defined forbidden (Haram) in the past. These include : 1. Learn English language. 2. Wearing neckties and trousers. 3. Use of load speaker in mosques. Now the imams in Pakistan are enjoying it so much that they would not let the neighborhood sleep. The imams enjoy narrating sexually explicit material at full blast for the benefit of the whole universe including minors. 4. Haircuts styled after Europeans. 5. Taking camera pictures and recording movie films. 6. The direction of Ka’ba in North America, (South or North East). After long debates, now there is a general agreement on the north-east side. 7. Halal meat. Many Muslims of Pakistan and Indian origin still do not believe in eating meat from Ahl-ulKittab 8. Space exploration and landing on moon. However, in my life time, the knowledgeable people have modified their stand and accepted the position of "unknowledgeable" people on above issues. With Islam-on-line, I wish and hope that our scholars should look deeply into this aspect of borrowing and lending and distinguish between the business with regulated banking institutions and predatory lending by individuals, payday loans, and other loans sharks. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala guide us to the right path. Ameen

Fatwa

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Publication Date

2008-02-10

Main Subjects

Economics & Business Administration
Financial and Accounting Sciences
Islamic Studies

Topics

• Banks
• Islamic jurisprudence
• Interest
• Usury
• Islamic Banks

No. of Pages

4

Data Type

Fatawa

Language

English

Record ID

BIM-729555

• APA
• MLA
• AMA