Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 275

(Ayah 275) ➊ { اَلَّذِيْنَ يَاْكُلُوْنَ الرِّبٰوا … :} means that the usurers will rise on the Day of Resurrection in a state of madness and insanity. Even in this world, due to excessive greed, this is their condition. The literal meaning of { ”الرِّبٰوا“ } is to increase, to become more, as He said: «فَاِذَاۤ اَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا الْمَآءَ اهْتَزَّتْ وَ رَبَتْ » [الحج : ۵ ] “Then when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells.” In the terminology of the Shariah, to take more than the principal amount by giving a loan is called riba. (Raghib) That is, to obtain more on a loan merely due to an extension of time without any financial compensation. (Ibn al-Arabi: 1/290)
The current banking system is also clearly based on interest. Savings accounts and PLS are clearly interest-based; although no interest is given on current accounts, the bank uses that money further on interest. Nowadays, there is much talk about Islamic banking, but scholars, including Hanafi scholars, have declared it based on interest-based tricks. Insurance is also a mixture of interest and gambling. Similarly, prize bonds are also a mixture of interest and gambling. One form of interest is the difference between cash and deferred prices; the business of installments is running in this way, although this amount is interest. For example, if a person says, “I will give you a loan of one thousand rupees, but I will take eleven hundred rupees from you,” what doubt is there in this being interest? Similarly, if an item whose price everyone knows is one thousand, and both the seller and buyer know it, then he sells it on installments for eleven hundred, so why is this not interest? Whether interest is taken for personal need or for business, when Allah has declared it haram, then every kind of interest is haram. If someone wants to avoid it, he must avoid not only clear interest but also interest-based tricks and doubtful transactions. See also Al-Imran (130).
➋ { ذٰلِكَ بِاَنَّهُمْ قَالُوْۤا اِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ مِثْلُ الرِّبٰوا:} means that their condition will be so because they considered sale (bay‘), i.e., trade, to be like interest, and declared interest so lawful that they made the permissibility of sale dependent on its similarity to interest. According to Zamakhshari: “They considered sale to be similar to interest, in exaggeration of the permissibility of interest.” In the view of these wrongdoers, there is no difference between sale and interest, because both bring profit. Nowadays, the new enlightened but dark-hearted class influenced by the culture of the disbelievers also considers interest to be a business, although there are many clear differences between the two, the greatest and fundamental of which is that Allah has declared sale lawful and interest unlawful—how can both be equal? Moreover, one difference is that in trade there is both profit and loss, whereas in an interest-based loan, whether the borrower profits or loses, the usurer (whether an individual or a bank) must in all cases recover the full amount with interest, which will only increase in the future. Therefore, interest is the worst form of oppression and eating without right.
➌ {يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطٰنُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ:} The harm caused by Satan to a person, especially attacking his mind, is proven by many verses and hadiths, such as causing lapses and inciting anger. He said: «مِنْ هَمَزٰتِ الشَّيٰطِيْنِ» [المؤمنون : ۹۷ ] “from the incitements of the devils.” Leading astray and leaving bewildered, He said: «كَالَّذِي اسْتَهْوَتْهُ الشَّيٰطِيْنُ فِي الْاَرْضِ حَيْرَانَ » [الأنعام : ۷۱ ] “Like the one whom the devils have driven to madness in the land, bewildered.” Afflicting with pain or illness, He said: « اَنِّيْ مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيْطٰنُ بِنُصْبٍ وَّ عَذَابٍ» [صٓ : ۴۱ ] “Indeed, Satan has caused me great distress and pain.” Causing forgetfulness, He said: « وَ مَاۤ اَنْسٰىنِيْهُ اِلَّا الشَّيْطٰنُ اَنْ اَذْكُرَهٗ » [الکہف : ۶۳ ] “And none made me forget it except Satan that I should mention it.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Satan circulates in the human being like the circulation of blood.” [بخاری، الاعتکاف، باب زیارۃ المرأۃ … : ۲۰۳۸ ] In short! To deny that Satan can touch a human and make him insane is to deny the Qur’an and Hadith. However, I have not yet found any hadith or incident from the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in which it is mentioned that Satan or a jinn entered a person’s body and spoke on his tongue; mere observation is insufficient evidence, because {’’ اَلْجَنُوْنُ فُنُوْنٌ ‘‘} i.e., there are many forms of madness. And Allah knows best!
➍ {فَلَهٗ مَا سَلَفَ وَ اَمْرُهٗۤ اِلَى اللّٰهِ:} means that after the command of the prohibition of interest, whoever refrains from interest, what he has already taken as interest will not be demanded from him, but the matter is left to Allah; He will decide based on his future conduct, regret, and repentance. Remember, this was at the time when the command of the prohibition of interest had not been revealed; now, knowing the prohibition of interest, if a person spends his whole life consuming interest and leaves it at the end, that wealth will not become his, rather he must return it to its owners as much as possible, and if he cannot return it, he must repent and seek forgiveness.
➎ { وَ مَنْ عَادَ فَاُولٰٓىِٕكَ اَصْحٰبُ النَّارِ:} This is a severe warning for the usurers. Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the one who consumes interest, the one who gives it, the one who writes it, and the witnesses to the interest-based transaction, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “They are all equal (in sin).” [مسلم، المساقاۃ، باب لعن أکل الربا و موکلہ : ۱۵۹۸ ] Some have interpreted {”وَ مَنْ عَادَ“} to mean that after it has been declared unlawful, if anyone still equates sale and interest and consumes interest considering it lawful, then such a person, since he is a disbeliever, has been declared to be in Hell forever. (Shawkani)

275. 1. The literal meaning of رِبَوا is increase and addition, and in Shariah its application is to رِبَا الفَضْلِ and ربا النسیئۃ. ربا الفضل refers to that interest which occurs in six items due to disparity or due to cash and credit (the details of which are in the hadith). For example, when exchanging wheat for wheat, it is commanded that, firstly, it should be equal in quantity, and secondly, it should be hand to hand. If there is any disparity, or if instead of being hand to hand, one is cash and the other is credit, or both are credit, then it is also interest. ربا النسیئۃ means giving someone (for example) one hundred rupees for six months on the condition that the repayment will be one hundred and twenty-five rupees. Twenty-five rupees are given for the six months' respite. In the statement attributed to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), it is described as: "کل قرض جر منفعۃ فھو ربا" (Fayd al-Qadir Sharh al-Jami' al-Saghir, vol. 5, p. 28) (Any benefit derived from a loan is interest). Whether this loan is taken for personal need or for business, interest on both types of loans is forbidden. And even in the age of ignorance, both types of loans were prevalent. Shariah, without any distinction, has declared both absolutely forbidden. Therefore, some people say that commercial loans, which are generally taken from banks, the addition on them is not interest because the borrower benefits from it, a part of which he returns to the bank or lender, so what is wrong with that? This wrong is not visible to those modernists who declare it permissible, otherwise, in the sight of Allah, there are great evils in it. For example, the profit of the one who takes a loan for business is not guaranteed; in fact, not only is profit uncertain, but even the protection of the principal amount is not guaranteed. Sometimes, the entire amount is lost in business, whereas, on the contrary, the profit of the lender (whether it is a bank or a moneylender) is fixed, and its payment is obligatory in every case. This is a clear form of oppression, which the Islamic Shariah can never declare permissible. Moreover, Shariah encourages the believers to spend on the needy of society without any worldly motive or benefit, which promotes brotherhood, sympathy, cooperation, and feelings of kindness and love in society. On the contrary, the system of interest promotes hard-heartedness and selfishness. A capitalist is only concerned with the profit from his capital, whether the needy in society are groaning from illness, hunger, poverty, or the unemployed are fed up with their lives. How can Shariah approve of such cruelty and hard-heartedness? There are many other harms as well, but there is no room for detail here. In any case, interest is absolutely forbidden, whether it is interest on a loan taken for personal need or on a commercial loan.

275. 2. This condition of the usurer will be at the time of rising from the grave or in the field of resurrection.

275. 3. Whereas in trade, cash and goods are exchanged, and there is a possibility of profit and loss, whereas in interest, neither of these exists. Moreover, Allah has declared sale lawful and interest unlawful, so how can the two be the same?

275. 4. After acceptance of faith or repentance, there will be no accountability for previous interest.

275. 5. That he remains steadfast on repentance or, due to evil deeds and corruption, he is left at the mercy of circumstances. Therefore, after this, there is a warning of punishment for the one who again takes interest.

275. (In contrast) those who consume usury will not stand except as one stands whom Satan has driven to madness by his touch. That is because they say, "Trade is just like usury." [392] But Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury [393]. So whoever receives admonition from his Lord and refrains (from usury), then what has passed is for him, and his affair is with Allah. But whoever returns (to usury), such are the people of the Fire; they will abide therein forever.

[392]
Commercial Interest is Also Prohibited:

This is actually the statement of the usurious Jews, and nowadays many Muslims also represent this viewpoint. Usurious loans are actually of two types:
(1) Personal loans or moneylender loans, i.e., those loans which a person takes from a moneylender or bank for his personal needs, and (2) commercial loans, which traders or industrialists take from banks on interest for their business purposes. Now, those Muslims who advocate the permissibility of interest say that the interest which the Quran has prohibited is that of personal or moneylender loans, whose interest rates are very oppressive, and that commercial interest is not prohibited, because in that era, such commercial usurious loans were not prevalent. Moreover, such loans are given and taken with mutual consent, their interest rates are tolerable and reasonable, and neither party is wronged, therefore this commercial interest is exempt from the interest which the Quran has declared unlawful. Here, we are unable to present all the arguments of the proponents of commercial interest and their answers. (Whoever needs details can refer to my book: “Business and Transaction Issues and Rulings,” in which two chapters are devoted to interest.) Therefore, we will suffice with a few brief arguments:
1. In the Prophetic era ﷺ, commercial interest did exist, and before the prohibition of interest, among the Companions ؓ, Hazrat Abbas and Khalid bin Walid ؓ used to engage in such commercial interest transactions. In that era, there used to be trade worth millions in Arabia, especially in Makkah and Madinah. Moreover, in neighboring countries, commercial interest was common.
2. In the Quran, the word “riba” is used in an absolute sense, which encompasses both personal and commercial loans. Therefore, commercial interest cannot be excluded from this absolute prohibition.
3. The Quran presents this verse in comparison to commercial loans:
﴿وَاَحَلَّ اللّٰهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبٰوا﴾ [2: 275]
Allah has permitted trade and forbidden interest, and in comparison to personal loans, it says:
﴿ يَمْحَقُ اللّٰهُ الرِّبٰوا وَيُرْبِي الصَّدَقٰتِ﴾ [2: 276]
Allah destroys interest and gives increase for charities. Thus, Allah Almighty has suggested “charity” as the solution for personal loans, and for commercial loans, He has shown the way of partnership and mudarabah, which are lawful and permissible.
4. As for the matter of low or reasonable interest rates, this has never been settled as to what constitutes a reasonable interest rate. Sometimes even 2 percent is considered unreasonable, as was the case around the time of the Second World War when the Reserve Bank of India set the discount rate, and sometimes a 29 percent interest rate is considered reasonable and appropriate [ديكهئے: اشتهار انوسٹمنٹ بنك مشتهره نوائے وقت مورخه 1977-8-11]. The probable reason for the inability to determine a reasonable interest rate is that its very foundation is shaky and weak. The determination of a reasonable and appropriate interest rate can only be made if it is known how much definite benefit the borrower will gain from it, and what should be the lender’s reasonable share from that. But we have no means to know how much benefit the borrower will get in the specified period, or whether he will get any benefit at all. In fact, he may even incur a loss. Secondly, in the same country and at the same time, there is extreme variation in the interest rates of different banks, and if everything is reasonable, then what is unreasonable? Thirdly, even if the interest rate is extremely low, it cannot make interest lawful, because the principle of Shariah is that even a small amount of a prohibited thing remains prohibited. A small amount of alcohol is just as prohibited as a large amount [ترمذي، ابواب الأشربة، باب ما سكر كثيرة فقليله حرام].
5.
The Condition of Mutual Consent is Only for Lawful Transactions:

As for mutual consent, this condition is only for lawful transactions, which means that even in lawful and permissible transactions, if either party is not satisfied, the transaction will be unlawful and impermissible. For example, in trade, the consent of both the seller and the buyer is necessary, otherwise the sale will be invalid and impermissible. Similarly, in marriage, the consent of both parties is necessary. But this consent cannot make unlawful acts lawful. If a man and a woman commit adultery with mutual consent, it cannot become permissible, nor can gambling become permissible by mutual consent. Similarly, interest cannot become lawful and permissible by mutual consent. Moreover, the one who pays interest is never truly willing to do so, no matter how low the interest rate is. Rather, it is his compulsion, and the proof is that if he could get an interest-free loan from somewhere, he would never be willing to take money on interest.
6. As for the claim that in commercial interest neither party is wronged, these people consider the cause or fundamental reason for the prohibition of interest to be injustice. However, this concept is itself incorrect. From the context of the verse, it is clear that these words present a good way to end usurious transactions and contracts, i.e., neither should the debtor oppress the creditor by withholding the principal amount, nor should the creditor burden the debtor with interest in addition to the principal. The application of these words will be in our society when we want to completely purify our society from interest, or when the parties to a loan individually are willing to save themselves from the curse of interest. The fundamental reason for the prohibition of interest is not injustice, but the greed for increasing one’s wealth without effort, by which a capitalist seeks a guaranteed increase in his surplus wealth through a fixed profit, and from which vile morals such as greed for wealth, hard-heartedness, and miserliness arise.
[393] Now, the duty of a Muslim is that when Allah has prohibited interest, he should submit to His command, whether he understands the difference between trade and interest and their wisdom or not. However, those who present the view that trade is just like interest, Allah has declared them extremely foolish and deranged, as if possessed by a jinn, and in their selfishness and greed for wealth, they have become so obsessed that they cannot see the difference between trade and interest. Since they are deranged in this life, they will be raised from their graves in the same state on the Day of Resurrection. Now, to explain to such people, we present the difference between interest and trade:
1.
The Difference Between Interest and Trade:

Interest is a guaranteed profit at a fixed rate, whereas in trade, along with profit, there is also the possibility of loss, whether a person trades with his own capital or in the form of mudarabah or partnership.
2.
The Destruction of National Economy by Interest:

In the form of mudarabah, an atmosphere of sympathy, kindness, and cooperation is created between the parties, because their interests are mutual, and this has a pleasant effect on national production. Whereas in the case of commercial interest, the usurer is only concerned with his own interest. Sometimes, at a critical time, he demands the return of his capital and withholds further provision, while the business is in dire need of capital. In this way, the usurer takes out his capital along with interest, but the debtor suffers great loss, and the national economy is also severely affected.
3. The third difference between mudarabah and interest is that mudarabah nurtures good morals, which creates brotherhood, goodness, and blessings in society, and eliminates class division. Whereas interest breeds evil morals such as selfishness, self-interest, miserliness, and hard-heartedness. The cause of the prohibition of interest is these evil morals and the greed for wealth. The usurious economic system has not produced only one Shylock (the exemplary character of a hard-hearted Jew who, due to non-payment on time, ruthlessly cut a piece of flesh from his debtor’s thigh), but in every era, thousands of Shylocks have been produced and will continue to be produced in the future.
[394] Allah Almighty has not said that whoever has consumed interest is forgiven, but rather has said that his matter is left to Allah, He may forgive him or punish him. Therefore, the cautious course is that he should not use the unlawful earnings of interest himself, but rather return it to the one from whom he took the interest, as this is the best course; otherwise, he should give it to the needy or spend it on public welfare works. In this way, he may be saved from the sin of interest, but there will be no reward, because Allah Almighty does not accept charity from unlawful wealth.