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This verse prohibits a person from devouring
other people’s wealth through means which are against justice, honesty,
fairness and good conventions. It is this directive of the Qur’an which forms the basis of all prohibitions in Islam that pertain to
economic matters. Obtaining money through theft, usurpation, lying, co-operation
with evil, embezzlement, misappropriation, consuming unclaimed items without
publicising them, all come under it. These evils require no further discussion
since they are universally acknowledged sins in every society and every
religion. Transactions and activities which become a source of deceit or
damage for the parties involved are also corollaries of this directive.
Their various forms which the Prophet forbade (sws) in his own times are:
He who hoarded edibles for forty days should know that he has no relationship with the Almighty, nor does the Almighty have any relationship with him. (Musnad Ahmad Bin Hambal, Vol 2, p. 33) On another occasion, he remarked: He who interfered in any way to increase the rates in the markets of the Muslims, the Almighty has the right to make his abode in a great fire on the Day of Judgement. (Musnad Ahmad Bin H~ambal, Vol 5, p. 27)
These are the various forms of sale and
purchase and crop-sharing which the Prophet (sws) prohibited in his times.
Since all the above mentioned directives are based on the underlying bases
of deceit and damage, the directive of prohibition will stand dissolved
in circumstances in which these bases no longer exists, just as if as a
result of evolution of societies these bases emerge in some new economic
activity, then those charged with authority can prohibit that activity.
Bribery
Do not devour one another’s wealth by evil means and do not use it as a means to reach the authorities in order that you may devour other people’s wealth even though you know that it is a sin. (2:188) In the words of Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi, this verse sheds light on the various aspects of bribery as follows: Firstly, it is the greatest means of usurping the rights of others. Consequently, it is mentioned right after devouring one another’s wealth through evil means in the above quoted verse. The reason for this is that the real utility of the law in being the custodian of people’s rights is totally dependent on the honesty and righteousness of the law enforcing authorities. They are the ones who protect the law in reality. So, if they are made corrupt through some means, then this only means that rights of people can now be sold and purchased. Anyone having money can buy them. This makes bribery the most effective way to make the authorities dishonest and unfair in their dealings. Secondly, the greatest factor which promotes bribery is the society itself. When the tendency of usurping others’ rights manifests itself in people, they adopt bribery to quench their evil thirst and illegally gratify the authorities. The authorities, as a result, get so used to taking bribes that they do not give people their legal rights unless they are given bribes. It is because of this reason that Islam at the very outset directed the society to refrain from this /evil, as this evil will turn their own custodians into their worst enemies. It is evident from certain Ahadith that as a precautionary measure, Islam even discourages people from giving gifts and presents to government officials and similarly it discourages the officials from accepting them as this might open the door to bribery. Thirdly, the fact that bribery is a universally acknowledged sin. Sense and reason, human nature and intuition, conventions and customs of a society all regard it so. All the religions of the world unanimously prohibit it. Consequently, the closing part of the verse is: "and you know this". (Tadabbur-i-Qur’an, Vol 1, p. 465) It is on account of these aspects of bribery that the Prophet (sws) severely condemned people who are involved in it. To quote Abu Dawud: The Prophet has cursed the person who gives bribes and the one who accepts bribes. (Kitab al-Aqdiyyah)
Gambling
O ye who believe: this liquor and gambling and idols and these divining arrows are abominations devised by Satan. Avoid them that you may succeed. Satan seeks to stir up enmity and hatred among you by means of liquor and gambling and to keep you from the remembrance of Allah and from the prayer. Will you not then abstain from them? (5:90-91)
An important point to note is that gambling
in pre-Islamic times was a means through which the rich showed their generosity
and helped the poor and needy. In winters, when cold winds blew in and
caused conditions akin to drought, the courageous would gather at various
places, drink liquor and in their state of inebriation slaughter any camels
they could get hold of. They would pay the owner of the camels whatever
price he demanded. They would then gamble on the meat of the slaughtered
camels. Whatever parts of meat a person won in this gambling, he would
generously distribute them among the poor who would gather around them
on such occasions. In the pre-Islamic Arabia, this was a matter of great
honour and people who took part in this activity would be considered very
philanthropic and generous. The poets would narrate the accounts of their
benevolence in their odes. On the other hand, people who stayed away from
this activity would be called "Barm" (stingy).
They ask you about liquor and gambling. Tell them: there is great sin in them and some profits as well for people. But their sin is greater than their profit. (2:219)
Interest
Those who devour interest will rise up on the Day of Judgement like the man whom Satan has driven to madness by his touch because they claim that trading is like interest and how strange it is that Allah has permitted trading and forbidden interest. Consequently, he who received this warning from the Almighty and desisted [in obedience thereto], then whatever he has taken in the past belongs to him and his fate is in the hands of Allah. And those who repeat [the offence] will be companions of the Fire and will abide therein forever. (2:275) O you who believe Fear Allah and give up what remains of your demand for interest. If you do it not, beware of war from Allah and His Prophet. And if you repent, then you can have your principle amount. Neither will you be allowed to deal unjustly nor will you be dealt with unjustly. (2:278-279)
The reason why devourers of interest will
be raised up on the Day of Judgement as madmen is their expression of amazement
on the fact that the Almighty has not prohibited trading while He has prohibited
interest, whereas there is no difference between the two. They maintain
that if a trader can demand profit on his capital, why can’t a lender on
interest demand profit on his capital. According to the Qur’an, only a
madman can give such an insane statement and such insanity demands that
its reward be no different than insanity itself. So in accordance with
the law of similarity between the act and its reward, such people would
be raised up as madmen on the Day of Judgement.
It is evident from the objection raised by the interest devourers that the breed of people who regard interest and trading as analogous to one another is not very rare after all. It was found even in the olden times. The Qur’an has not even commented on this foolish objection since its baselessness is self evident and only sheds light on the insanity of those who have raised it. A trader invests his capital in a trade which is in demand from the people. He makes his merchandise available to people through hard work and by taking a lot of risk. These people, in the first place, were not in a position to produce this merchandise themselves, and if at all they had been able to do this then they would have given a given a heavy cost for it. Moreover, a trader spews his capital in the open market for competition and his profit is determined by the low and high trends of the market itself. He may end up losing all his money due to these trends and he may be able to make some profit. So his hands are tied in this enterprise as he cannot earn a single penny of profit in selling his merchandise until once again his invested capital enters the market after being exposed to the risks and fluctuations of the market forces and after once again providing service to the society. So how can the enterprise of a trader who takes risk and provides service to the society when he invests his capital be compared to that of an interest devourer whose enterprise is mean, callous, cowardly and hostile to humanity in its nature. He is a person who is not willing to take the slightest risk with his capital but is very eager to extort profit. (Vol 1, p. 632-3) It is because of this fiendish nature of interest that the Prophet (sws) is reported to have said: So great a sin is interest that if it is divided into seventy parts, then lightest of these parts is equal in its extent to fornication with one’s mother. (Ibn Majah, Kitab al-Tijarat) Although the Qur’an has prohibited only the taking of interest, yet an essential corollary of this is that without any genuine plea a person who gives interest or writes down its transaction or bears witness to it be regarded as equal criminals on the principle of Ta‘awun ‘ala al-ithm (co-operation with evil). Consequently, it is narrated by Jabir (rta): The Prophet has severely condemned the devourer of interest and the one who pays interest and those who write an agreement [for such lending] and the two who are the witnesses to this document and has said: All of them are equal. (Muslim, Kitab al-Buyu‘) The Prophet (sws) has emphatically directed people to refrain from the slightest possible trace of interest while borrowing in barter as well: If you lend gold, then take back the same type and the same amount of gold; and if you lend silver, then take back the same type and the same amount of silver; for he who gave more or desired more, then this is precisely what is interest. (Muslim, Kitab al-Buyu‘) If you lend gold in exchange for silver, then there is a possibility of interest in this.34 Similarly, for wheat in exchange for another type of wheat35, barley in exchange for another type of barley, date for another type of date. Indeed if the exchange is done on the spot, then there is no harm. (Muslim, Kitab al-Buyu‘)
This is the correct meaning of the above
quoted Ahadith. If all the Ahadith on this topic had remained intact, the
scholars of our Ummah would not have faltered in interpreting them. However,
owing to the misinterpretation of the narrators in some chains of narration,
the words "on the spot" or those of similar meaning of the second Hadith
were incorporated in the first one; similarly, the words "gold in exchange
for gold" of the first Hadith were put in place of the words "silver in
exchange for gold" of the second. It is because of this intermingling of
words that our jurists have erroneously derived the concept of Riba al-Fadl
from such Ahadith. Whereas the correct concept in this regard is what the
following words of the Prophet (sws) say: "Riba is only in transactions
of loan." (Muslim, Kitab al-Buyu‘)
That which you give as loan on interest that it may increase on [other] people’s wealth has no increase with Allah; but that which you give as Zakat, seeking Allah’s countenance, it is these people who shall get manifold [in the Hereafter] of what they gave. (30:39)
The expression "…that it may increase
on [other] people’s wealth" is not only inappropriate for application to
interest based loans given to the poor for their personal use, but is also
clearly indicative of the fact that interest based loans were generally
given for business purposes and in this way they "increased on other people’s
wealth" according to the Qur’an.
If the borrower is in difficulty grant him respite until it is easy for him to repay and if you write off [the debt], it is better for you, if you only knew. (2:280) Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi comments on this verse in the following words: Today some naive people claim that the type of interest which prevailed in Arabia before the advent of Islam was usury. The poor and the destitute had no option but to borrow money from a few rich money-lenders to fulfil their personal needs. These money-lenders exploited the poor and used to lend them money at high interest rates. It is only this type of interest which the Qur’an has termed as Riba and forbidden. As far as commercial interest is concerned, it neither existed at that time nor did the Qur’an prohibit it. The verse categorically refutes this ‘allegation’. When the Qur’an says that if the borrower is in difficulty, he should be given respite until he is able to pay back his debt, it clearly points out that in those times even the rich used to acquire loans. In fact, if the style and stress of the verse are correctly understood, it becomes clear that it was mostly the rich who used to procure loans. Indeed, there was a strong chance that the borrower would find himself in difficulty even to pay the original amount. The money-lender, therefore, is directed to give him more time and if he forgoes the original amount it would be better for him. The words of this verse strongly indicate this meaning. The actual Arabic words of the verse are: wa in kana dhu ‘usratin fa naziratun ila maysarah. The particle of condition in (if) is not used for general circumstances, but, in fact, is used for rare and unusual circumstances. For general circumstances the particle idha is used. In the light of this, it is clear that the borrower in those times were generally affluent (dhu maysarah) but in some cases they were poor or had become poor after acquiring the loan and in that case, the Qur’an has directed the money-lenders to give them a time rebate. (Tadabbur-i- Qur’an, Vol 1, p. 638-639) He has concluded this discussion by saying: Obviously, the affluent would have turned to the money-lenders not to fulfil their personal needs, but, of course, their business needs. So what is the difference between these loans and the commercial loans of today? (Tadabbur-i- Qur’an, Vol I, p. 639)
Since the prohibition of interest totally
eliminates any incentive of profit in lending money, as an obvious outcome,
no institution which provides capital to investors on loan can be established.
The Qur’an by prohibiting interest therefore, does not merely prohibit
a type of fiscal transaction, it actually razes down this pillar of capitalism
-- the institution of Banking. Of course, it can only be left intact if
the spirit of the law which prohibits interest is violated without actually
violating the law.
(Translated from Ghamidi’s "Mizan" by Shehzad Saleem) |
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1. Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hambal,
Vol 1, p. 388
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