Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 279

(Ayah 279) ➊ In {فَاِنْ لَّمْ تَفْعَلُوْا فَاْذَنُوْا بِحَرْبٍ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ وَ رَسُوْلِهٖ:} the tanween is for emphasis, therefore it has been translated as "a great war." If the object of {’’أَذِنَ يَأْذَنُ (س)‘‘} is with a laam, for example {’’أَذِنَ لَهُ‘‘}, then its meaning is {’’اِسْتَمَعَ‘‘}, that is, to listen attentively, to hear; and if it is {’’أَذِنَ بِهِ‘‘}, then its meaning is {’’عَلِمَ بِهِ‘‘}, that is, to know, to be aware, to be informed. (Qamoos) That is, if you do not give up usury, then be aware and informed of the declaration of war from Allah and His Messenger, and this is the warning which has not been given in such clear words from Allah and His Messenger regarding any other crime. According to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), Ibn Sireen, Hasan Basri, and some other Imams (may Allah have mercy on them), the usurer will be forced to repent, and if he still does not change his ways, he will be killed. (Ibn Kathir)

➋ { لَا تَظْلِمُوْنَ وَ لَا تُظْلَمُوْنَ:} That is, if you take more than the principal amount, then this will be your oppression upon people, and if you do not even get the principal amount, then this will be people's oppression upon you, and both of these things are against justice. (Ibn Kathir)

279. 1. This is such a severe punishment that is not given for the commission of any other sin. That is why Abdullah bin Abbas ؓ said that in an Islamic state, if a person is not willing to give up interest, it is the responsibility of the Caliph of the time to make him repent, and if he does not desist, then his neck should be struck off (Ibn Kathir).

279. 2. If you take more than the principal amount, then this will be oppression on your part, and if you are not given even the principal amount, then this will be oppression against you.

279. But if you do not do so, then be informed of a war from Allah and His Messenger [398]. But if you repent, you may have your principal [399]—neither will you wrong others, nor will you be wronged.

[398] Here we mention a few hadiths related to interest (usury):

(1) Hazrat Jabir ؓ narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the one who takes interest, the one who gives it, the one who writes the contract, and the witnesses, and said: they are all equal (in sin) [مسلم، كتاب البيوع۔ باب لعن آكل الربو أو موكله]
From this hadith, it is understood that besides those who take and give interest, the staff of banks are also equally involved in this sin.
(2) The Prophet ﷺ said: "If the sin of interest were divided into seventy parts, even the least of them would be equal to committing adultery with one's mother." [ابن ماجه بحواله مشكوٰة۔ كتاب البيوع۔ باب الربا۔ فصل ثالث]
(3) The Prophet ﷺ said: "A single dirham of interest that a person consumes, knowing it is interest, is more severe in sin than committing adultery thirty-six times." [مسند احمد۔ دارمي، بحواله مشكوٰة۔ كتاب البيوع۔ باب الربا فصل ثالث]
Why is there such a severe warning regarding interest? Here a question arises that, from the Shariah perspective, there are many sins greater than interest, such as shirk (associating partners with Allah), unjust killing, and adultery, etc. But the warning of war from Allah and His Messenger ﷺ has been given only regarding interest, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself has used such harsh words about it that have not been used for any other sin. So what is the reason for this? The answer to this question is that interest is the antithesis of Islamic teachings and directly opposes them, and its attack is especially on the social and economic system of Islam. Islam teaches us to live as brothers to one another. It teaches mutual kindness, compassion, mercy, and self-sacrifice. The Prophet ﷺ spent his whole life teaching the Companions ؓ the lesson of brotherhood and compassion, and under divine revelation, he trained a society of mutual enemies in such a way that they truly became brothers and supporters of one another. Allah Almighty has mentioned this fact as a great favor in two places in the Quran. [سوره آل عمران كي آيت 103 ميں اور سورة انفال كي آيت 63 ميں] And this was the essence of the life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Whereas interest creates in a person the opposite vile qualities, such as miserliness, greed, love of wealth, and cruelty. It creates enmity between brothers, which is the exact opposite of Islamic teaching. Secondly, the entire outcome of the Islamic economic system is that wealth should remain in circulation and that this circulation should flow from the rich to the poor. The system of zakat and charity in Islam has been made obligatory for this very reason, and the laws of inheritance and mutual rights also support this. Whereas in an interest-based society, the flow of wealth is always from the poor to the rich. In this respect as well, interest is the exact opposite of the entire Islamic economic system.
(4) The Prophet ﷺ said: "A time will come upon people when everyone will be consuming interest; if he does not consume it, its fever (and in another narration, its dust) will surely reach him." [نسائي۔ كتاب البيوع۔ باب اجتناب الشبهات فى الكسب] And today is exactly such a time. Interest has penetrated so deeply into the veins of people all over the world, including Muslims, that every person is affected by it, consciously or unconsciously. Today, even if a Muslim sincerely wants to completely avoid interest, he faces difficulties at many points. For example, nowadays, if someone buys a car, scooter, wagon, bus, or truck, he is required to insure it. Although the amount for such insurance is small and it is not the type of insurance where the company is responsible for paying damages in case of accidents, the law here is that a new vehicle cannot be used until it is insured, and this type of insurance must be renewed every year. The business of insurance is, from several aspects, unlawful in Shariah, the details of which are not for this place.

Current Forms of Interest:
Similarly, business people cannot export or import goods without dealing with banks. The easiest way for them is to obtain an LC (Letter of Credit) or a letter of trust from the bank. Thus, all imported and exported goods are affected by interest-based business. Even those who consider commercial interest permissible and support it argue that when most of the items in your home have reached you through interest-based transactions, how can you avoid them? The answer to such objections is that it is the government's responsibility to eliminate such forms of interest or to find alternative ways, and if the government does not do this, then every Muslim should individually avoid interest as much as possible, and where he is compelled, there will be no accountability. May Allah forgive, because the principle of Shariah is that accountability is only to the extent of one's ability, and where there is compulsion, there is no accountability.

Different Types of Bank Accounts:

Similarly, in today's era, an important issue is where to safely keep one's savings or surplus money, and it is obvious that for this purpose, banks are safer than homes. There are three types of accounts in banks: (i) Current Account, in which banks collect people's money but do not pay interest to the depositors; (ii) Saving Account, on which the bank pays interest, but at a low rate; (iii) Fixed Deposit Account, i.e., accounts for money deposited for a long and fixed period, on which the bank pays interest. Now, a person who wants to avoid interest can do no more than deposit his money in a current account and not take interest. But there is another complication: the bank also lends out the money from current accounts on interest and does interest-based business. Therefore, some people think, why leave the interest money with the bank? Whereas Allah Almighty says:

﴿ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوْا عَلَي الْاِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ﴾

That is, do not help one another in sin and transgression. Therefore, this money must be taken from the bank, but it should not be used for oneself. Rather, it should be given to the needy and poor or spent on public welfare works, and no intention of reward should be kept, because charity from unlawful wealth is not acceptable. Their argument is that the rulings of Shariah change with the change of hands. For example, if Zaid has interest money and gives it to Bakr as charity or otherwise without the intention of reward, it will not be unlawful for him. Therefore, money should be kept in an interest-bearing account instead of a current account, and interest must be taken from the bank, which should be spent on the needy or public welfare works, or (ii) if ever there is a need to take a loan from the bank, this amount of interest can be paid in its place, or (iii) it can be used for unlawful taxes imposed by the government. But when we look at the commands of Allah and His Messenger, all these expediencies become meaningless. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid this filth in every way, and at the root of such thinking is the fact that man is naturally greedy, so he does not want to leave money, no matter how it comes. Of the three situations mentioned above, the first one seems apparently preferable, but we do not accept such expediency for two reasons. First, the person who starts taking interest will never be completely pure from this filth. Rather, after some time, his attitude will begin to soften, and he himself will become "ومن وقع في الشبهات فقد وقع في الحرام" (whoever falls into doubtful matters falls into the unlawful). Thus, this attitude will be transferred to his children. Second, if we are concerned about avoiding interest for ourselves, that is a great thing. Our purpose is not to deposit money in the bank so that the bank earns interest from it, but only for the safety of the money, and that purpose is fulfilled.

The Issue of Provident Fund:

Another important issue is the provident fund of employees of government, semi-government, and some commercial institutions. In this fund, some amount is deducted monthly from the employees' salaries and accumulates, and interest is also compounded and accumulated, and at the time of retirement, the entire amount is paid in a lump sum. This issue is generally considered a case of compulsion, and it is said that it is a unilateral decision of the government or institutions, and on this basis, some scholars have given a fatwa of its permissibility by including it as a condition of employment and as the employee's right to wages. However, this is said out of ignorance, because if someone does not want to take interest, no one forces him. On the back of the provident fund agreement form, in clause number 16, it is clearly stated that whoever does not want to take interest is not compelled. In addition, the late Zia-ul-Haq gave legal form to its alternative solution, which is that whoever does not want to take interest may not take it, and in return, he can get up to 80% of his accumulated amount as a benevolent loan at any time, which he will later repay in installments from his salary.

Bank Partnership Accounts:

The third important issue is the bank's partnership accounts, which came into existence as a result of President Zia-ul-Haq's efforts to eliminate interest. In banking terminology, these are called P.L.S. (Profit and Loss Shares). This created a wave of happiness among the religious class, and such people transferred their accounts to P.L.S. accounts. But upon investigation, it was found that this too is just a broader form of "Bay' al-'Inah".

What is Bay' al-'Inah?:

In Bay' al-'Inah, an attempt is made to make interest appear as a sale through legal trickery. For example, if someone needs cash and does not want to be involved in interest, he buys something, say a horse, from "B" for five thousand rupees on a one-year promise, then after a day or two, "A" sells the same horse back to "B" for four and a half thousand rupees in cash, and after a year, "A" pays five thousand rupees to "B". In this way, "A" immediately gets four and a half thousand rupees, and "B" gets a profit of five hundred rupees after a year on four and a half thousand rupees, which is actually one year's interest on that amount, and by bringing the sale of the horse in between, an attempt is made to make this interest lawful. This is called Bay' al-'Inah. [موطا امام مالك۔ كتاب البيوع، باب العينه] This is pure interest, and both "A" and "B" are sinful. The same kind of operation is done in partnership accounts. The only difference is that in partnership accounts, instead of the terms "interest" and "discount," the terms "mark-up" and "mark-down" are used. The rate of interest is annual percentage, while mark-up is per thousand per day, which is determined by agreement between the entrepreneur and the bank, and this rate becomes almost the same as the annual percentage rate in banks. For example, Zaid demands fifty thousand rupees from the bank for the purchase of machinery. Now, the bank will, on paper, buy the machinery itself from Zaid in exchange for this amount, and after estimating the expected profit, will add "mark-up" and collect this mark-up as rent and monthly installment from Zaid every month. And if Zaid cannot pay the principal along with the mark-up in installments within the specified period, the bank has the right to sell the machinery and recover everything, and whatever remains will be Zaid's. The bank does not care about acquiring the machinery, the expenses of acquisition, the risk of loss during acquisition, its maintenance, or its becoming unusable before time, and it puts all such risks on Zaid. Now you can see for yourself how much this form of partnership relates to the Islamic concept of sale. The reality is that our banks, in their basic structure, are financial intermediaries, not commercial institutions. They take their service fee in the form of interest or guaranteed profit, but are not willing to take business risks at any cost, and this is the fundamental difference between interest and trade. Therefore, until we are mentally prepared to change this basic structure, interest will continue to appear in new forms.

The Business of Insurance:

The fourth important issue is insurance. Like interest, insurance has also enveloped the whole world. In Pakistan, before 1973, insurance was done by private companies, but they had government patronage. In 1973, the government took them over and merged all companies under the name of State Life Insurance to further promote this business. Today, life insurance is mandatory for every government and semi-government employee, as well as every industrial and commercial institution's employee. In case of death or accident, the specified amount is given to the heirs nominated by the employee, and the amount is paid by the government or the relevant institution. Initially, insurance was only for movable and immovable property. Then life insurance began. Then insurance for each organ of the human body separately began, and nowadays, even responsibilities such as children's education and marriage are insured. This is not the place to explain insurance policies in detail. Briefly, it is necessary to state that it contains elements of interest, gambling, and gharar (uncertainty), because at the time of setting the terms of insurance, neither the insured knows what he will be able to pay, nor does the insurance company know what it will have to pay. In other words, neither of the two counter-values can be determined, and such a sale is unlawful. In addition, it creates confusion in the Islamic law of inheritance. Insurance companies often make beautiful and strong propaganda about mutual sympathy, solidarity, and cooperation. However, it is a purely commercial institution, which is many times more profitable than interest-based business. To get an idea, in 1978, insurance companies in America received 98 billion dollars from their policyholders and paid only 4 billion dollars to them, thus collecting 94 billion dollars in one year. [روزنامه ’جنگ‘ مورخه 10 مئي 1979ء] The solution is that everyone must avoid all kinds of insurance, and where a person is compelled, perhaps Allah will forgive him.

Prize Bonds:

The fifth important issue is prize bonds. This business and the prizes given in it are very popular among the public these days. This is actually a combined form of interest and gambling, and this business is conducted at the government level. When the government needs capital, it obtains money from the public through this means without calling it interest. The procedure is that, for example, nowadays the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has issued bonds (government securities) of 50, 100, 500, and 1000 rupees, which can be cashed at any time at any bank. They are traded among the public just like currency notes. They are also numbered like currency notes. Now, for example, in January 1995, 50-rupee bonds are being sold, then in February, 100-rupee bonds will be sold, and so on. Then, every two months, there is a draw. The draw for 50-rupee bonds will be in March, and for 100-rupee bonds in April, and so on. Now, the numbers that come up in the draw, whoever has them will show them and receive the announced prize from the State Bank of Pakistan or any National Savings Center. Since this business is run by the government itself, it has gained much popularity, and those who have no concern for halal and haram participate in it enthusiastically. The prizes distributed every two months are actually the two months' interest on the collected amount, which, instead of being distributed among all the entitled people, is given to a few individuals through a draw, and to deceive the public, the name of interest in this business has been changed to "prize," and awarding this prize by draw is itself gambling. And this is exactly what happens in a lottery. This interest-based business is not limited to these activities. If banks do interest-based business, so do post offices and national savings centers, and there are many other government, semi-government, and private institutions that run their businesses on interest and collect interest from people in various forms. Nowadays, the business of selling goods in installments has also become very common, and both the seller and the buyer know that the installments include an amount of interest, and if there is a delay in paying government dues or bills, government and semi-government institutions forcibly collect interest on it. In short, everywhere the atmosphere has become poisoned by the effects of interest. Nevertheless, it can be said with certainty that even today, if someone firmly resolves to avoid interest, he can do so. The only incurable thing is human greed. If a trader, seeing others, wants to do business of four hundred thousand with a capital of one hundred thousand in collusion with the bank, why does he call it compulsion? And if someone imports something, he can also avoid interest by depositing the full amount in advance. As far as I understand, there is no compulsion anywhere; the matter is simply that lawful earning is less. To get more profit, being involved in interest and then calling it compulsion—if this is not shamelessness, then what is? And all the wealth earned through such tricks and excuses becomes completely unlawful. And if a person is truly compelled at some time, then it is not a sin, and Allah Almighty will forgive, and such compulsion can only be in giving interest, never in taking it. Then it is also worth mentioning that if interest-based businesses are widespread everywhere, there are also some institutions that collect capital from people on the basis of partnership and profit-sharing, such as joint stock companies and cooperative societies, which do business purely on commercial basis. The prices of their shares fluctuate, and these shares are sold in the open market. In addition, even today, there are many honest and religious traders who accept money on the conditions of partnership and pay profit according to the agreed terms at the appointed time, and return the principal when needed. However, such people do need to be searched for, but they are not non-existent. Therefore, it is obligatory for every person to avoid this great crime in every case.

[399] Allah Almighty Himself has given the best method for society to be freed from the system of interest, which is that after the revelation of this command, anyone who lends money on interest will only be entitled to receive his principal amount, and will not oppress the debtor by demanding interest. Similarly, the debtor must pay the principal amount to the creditor; he should not oppress the creditor by withholding the principal or part of it. These are the verses known as the verses of riba, according to which interest has been declared completely unlawful, and these were revealed at the very end of Surah Baqarah, in fact, only four months before the Prophet's ﷺ passing. Hazrat Aisha ؓ narrates: "When the last verses of Surah Baqarah regarding interest were revealed, the Prophet ﷺ went to the mosque and recited these verses. Then the trade of alcohol was also declared unlawful." [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير زير آيات مذكوره] And Hazrat Umar ؓ said: "The verses of riba are among the last verses of the Quran to be revealed, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away before he explained all their rulings to us. Therefore, leave interest and everything in which there is a doubt of interest." [ابن ماجه، دارمي، بحواله مشكوٰة، كتاب البيوع، باب الربا۔ فصل ثالث] A few days after the revelation of these verses, the Prophet ﷺ performed the Farewell Hajj, and while implementing this command, he announced in his sermon of the Farewell Hajj: "All interest of the time of ignorance is abolished, and the first interest I abolish is that of my family, i.e., the interest of Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib." [مسلم۔ كتاب الحج۔ باب حجة النبي] Like alcohol, interest was also deeply rooted in Arab society, and its eradication also happened gradually. The first verse revealed condemning interest is Surah Rum, verse 39, in which it is stated: "Whatever you give as interest to increase people's wealth does not increase with Allah." The second verse is Surah Al-Imran, verse 130, in which it is said: "O you who believe! Do not consume doubled and multiplied interest (i.e., compound interest)." Then, after that, the above verses of Surah Baqarah were revealed, after which interest became a criminal offense, and the usurious tribes of Arabia were informed through officials that if they did not refrain from interest-based transactions, war would be waged against them.