Reports on usury (riba)

Abu Hurrah al-Raqashi narrates from his paternal uncle: During the Farewell Hajj, on the middle day of the days of Tashriq, I was holding the reins of the she-camel of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Among the things he said was this: He said: "O people! All usury (riba) is cancelled, and the first usury that is cancelled is the usury due to Sayyiduna al-Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him). (In usurious dealings) you will receive your principal sums; you shall neither wrong nor be wronged."
Abu Ya'la recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Ali bin Zayd, who is da'if (weak), though he has also been declared trustworthy. The narrator Abu Hurrah was declared thiqah (trustworthy) by Imam Abu Dawud, and Yahya bin Ma'in called him da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Usury (riba) has seventy doors, and shirk is likewise (that is, it too has seventy doors)."
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.
Ibn Majah recorded it in abridged form: "And shirk is likewise."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Hanzalah (may Allah be pleased with him), whose father was washed by the angels, narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A single dirham of usury (riba) that a man consumes knowingly is worse (a greater sin) than committing fornication thirty-six times."
Ahmad and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat recorded it; Ahmad's narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "A single dirham that a man acquires through usury (riba) is a greater (sin) in the sight of Allah Almighty than committing fornication thirty-three times, fornication that he commits in (the era of) Islam."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; Ata' al-Khurasani did not hear from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Usury (riba) has seventy-two doors, the least of which is that a man should have relations with his own mother; and the greatest usury is that a man assails the honour of his brother."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Umar bin Rashid, whom al-Ijli declared thiqah (trustworthy), while the majority of the Imams declared him da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever helps a wrongdoer with falsehood in order to push aside the truth by it has severed himself from the protection of Allah and the protection of the Messenger of Allah. Whoever consumes one dirham of usury (riba), it is like committing fornication thirty-three times. And whoever's flesh has grown from unlawful earnings, the Fire is more deserving of him."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Saghir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Sa'id bin Rahmah, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "On the night I was taken on the Night Journey (Mi'raj), I saw, when we reached the seventh heaven, that I looked above (here one narrator, Affan, reports the words: I looked above me), and there were thunder, lightning and flashing thunderbolts." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I came upon some people whose bellies were like houses, with snakes in them that could be seen from outside their bellies. I asked: 'Jibril, who are these people?' He said: 'These are the ones who consumed usury (riba).'" (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Imam Ahmad recorded it within a long hadith about the wonders of creation.
Ibn Majah recorded it in abridged form; its chain contains a narrator, Ali bin Zayd, about whom there is criticism, and weakness predominates in him.

Ka'b al-Ahbar narrates: That I should commit fornication thirty-three times is more preferable to me than that I consume a single dirham of usury (riba) about which Allah Almighty knows that, when I consumed it, I consumed it as usury.
Imam Ahmad recorded it from Hanzalah bin al-Rahib from Ka'b al-Ahbar. Al-Husayni mentioned that this Hanzalah is the one whom the angels washed (after his death); if that is so, he was martyred at the Battle of Uhud, so how could he narrate from Ka'b al-Ahbar? And if he is someone else, then I do not know him. Apparently he is his son, Abdullah bin Hanzalah, and the name Abdullah has dropped out of the original; and Allah knows best. The narrators of this report up to Hanzalah (may Allah be pleased with him) are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The one who consumes usury (riba), the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and its two witnesses, when they know about it; the woman who tattoos and the woman who has herself tattooed for the sake of beauty; the one who withholds charity; and the one who apostatizes by returning to desert life after emigration (hijrah): (all of these) have been cursed upon the tongue of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) (or: these have been declared accursed upon the tongue of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Part of it is reported in the Sahih and other books.
Imam Ahmad, Abu Ya'la and al-Tabarani (in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir) recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, al-Harith al-A'war, and he is da'if (weak), though he has also been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whenever usury (riba) spreads among a people, they are seized by famine; and whenever bribery spreads among a people, they are seized by terror."
Imam Ahmad recorded it; its chain contains a narrator whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) mentions a hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in which these words occur: "Whenever fornication and usury (riba) appear among any people, they make the punishment of Allah Almighty lawful for themselves."
Abu Ya'la recorded it, and its chain is jayyid (good).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Before the Hour, fornication, usury (riba) and wine will appear (that is, become widespread)."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "When fornication and usury (riba) appear (that is, become widespread) in a town, they make the decree of Allah (that is, His punishment) lawful for themselves." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say:
This report is found in this way in the original, from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), within the biography of Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him); perhaps the name (of Sayyiduna Usamah bin Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him)) has dropped out of the original; and Allah knows best.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, Hashim bin Marzuq, and I have not found anyone who gave his biography; the remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The people of a town are never destroyed until usury (riba) and fornication become widespread among them.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, Ahmad bin Yahya al-Kufi al-Ahwal, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Samurah bin Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who consumes usury (riba) and the one who pays it.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, Ibrahim bin Isma'il bin Yahya bin Salamah bin Kuhayl, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who consumes usury (riba), the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and its witness, when they know (what they are doing). (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say:
Abu Dawud and others recorded this report, but they did not report these words: "when they know".
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains a narrator, Isa bin Abi Isa al-Hannat, and he is matruk (abandoned).

Al-Qasim bin Abd al-Wahid al-Wazzan narrates: I saw Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa in the market among the money-changers (who dealt in gold and silver), and he was saying: "O community of money-changers, receive glad tidings!" They said: "O Abu Muhammad, may Allah Almighty give you the glad tidings of Paradise for what you are about to tell us." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Receive (you who deal in usury) the tidings of Hell."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. About the narrator al-Qasim, al-Dhahabi said: I think Fudayl bin Husayn al-Jahdari is alone in narrating from him. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: No one has declared him weak.

Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Beware of the sins that are not forgiven: misappropriating the spoils of war, for whoever misappropriates anything will bring it on the Day of Resurrection; and consuming usury (riba), for whoever consumes usury will come on the Day of Resurrection insane and deranged." Then he recited this verse: "Those who consume usury will not stand except as one stands whom Satan has driven to madness by his touch."
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, al-Husayn bin Abd al-Awwal, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) explains regarding this statement of Allah Almighty, (Allah, the Exalted, says:) "Those who consume usury (riba) will not stand except as one stands whom Satan has driven to madness by his touch": Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says: On the Day of Resurrection they will be recognized by this condition, that they will stand only as a madman stands whose neck has been throttled. (Allah, the Exalted, says:) "That is because they say: 'Trade is just like usury,'" whereas they have attributed a lie to Allah Almighty. "Allah Almighty has made trade lawful and made usury unlawful; so whoever receives an admonition from his Lord and desists," the verse continues up to: "And whoever returns (to it)," meaning consumes usury, "then those are the people of the Fire; they will abide in it forever." Allah, the Exalted, says: "O you who believe, fear Allah Almighty and give up what remains of usury, if you are believers. And if you do not, then be informed of war from Allah and His Messenger," to the end of the verse. The narrator says: It has reached us, and Allah knows best, that this verse was revealed concerning Banu Amr bin Umayr bin Awf, who belonged to the tribe of Thaqif, and concerning Banu al-Mughirah. Banu al-Mughirah used to pay usury to the people of Thaqif. When Allah Almighty granted His Messenger victory over Makkah, on that day the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) abolished all usury. The people of Ta'if had made a treaty on the condition that the usury owed to them would be theirs, and whatever usury they owed would be cancelled. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had it written at the end of their document that they would have every right the Muslims have, and every obligation the Muslims bear would apply to them: that they would not consume usury nor give it to others to consume. Banu Amr bin Umayr and Banu al-Mughirah came to Sayyiduna Attab bin Asid (may Allah be pleased with him), who was the governor of Makkah. Banu al-Mughirah said: "We are the most unfortunate of people with regard to usury; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has cancelled the usury of others but not ours." Banu Amr bin Umayr said: "Our treaty was made on the condition that we would receive our usury." Sayyiduna Attab bin Asid (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about this, and Allah Almighty revealed this verse: "And if you do not, then be informed of war from Allah and His Messenger." So Banu Amr realized that in this way they would be counted as those at war with Allah and His Messenger, because of this statement of Allah Almighty: "If you repent, you shall have your capital; you shall not wrong," meaning you shall not collect more, "and you shall not be wronged," meaning that you would not even receive your capital. "And if (the debtor) is in hardship," and if you let it go, that is better for you, if you only knew. "Then (let there be) respite until a time of ease; and if you give it as charity, that is better for you, if you only knew. And fear a Day in which you will be returned to Allah Almighty; then every soul will be paid in full what it earned, and they will not be wronged." People have mentioned that this verse was revealed, and that it and the last verse of Surah al-Nisa' were both the last of the Qur'an to be revealed.
Abu Ya'la recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Muhammad bin al-Sa'ib al-Kalbi, and he is a kadhdhab (liar).