O You Who Believe

10)

Thereafter, Allah said,

(So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating Riba, shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allah (to judge),) meaning, those who have knowledge that Allah made usury unlawful, and refrain from indulging in it as soon as they acquire this knowledge, then Allah will forgive their previous dealings in Riba,

(Allah has forgiven what is past.)

On the day Makkah was conquered the Prophet said,

(All cases of Riba during the time of Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic period of ignorance) is annulled and under my feet, and the first Riba I annul is the Riba of Al-'Abbas (the Prophet's uncle)).

We should mention that the Prophet did not require the return of the interest that they gained on their Riba during the time of Jahiliyyah. Rather, he pardoned the cases of Riba that occured in the past, just as Allah said,

(shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allah (to judge).)

Sa'id bin Jubayr and As-Suddi said that,

(shall not be punished for the past) refers to the Riba one consumed before it was prohibited. Allah then said,

(But whoever returns) meaning, deals in Riba after gaining knowledge that Allah prohibited it, then that warrants punishment, and in this case, the proof will have been established against such person. This is why Allah said about them:

(such are the dwellers of the Fire ـ they will abide therein forever.)

The subject of Riba is a difficult subject for many scholars. We should mention that the Leader of the Faithful, 'Umar bin Al-Khattab (R.A), said, "I wished that the Messenger of Allah had made three matters clearer for us, so that we could refer to his decision: the grandfather (regarding inheriting from his grandchildren), the Kalalah (those who leave neither descendants nor ascendants as heirs) and some types of Riba.''

'Umar (R. A) was refering to the types of transactions where it is not clear whether they involve Riba or not. The Shari'ah supports the rule that for any matter that is unlawful, then the means to it are also unlawful, because whatever results in the unlawful is unlawful, in the same way that whenever an obligation will not be complete except with something, then that something is itself an obligation.

The Two Sahihs recorded that An-Nu'man bin Bashir said that he heard the Messenger of Allah say,

(Both lawful and unlawful things are evident, but in between them there are matters that are not clear. So whoever saves himself from these unclear matters, he saves his religion and his honor. And whoever indulges in these unclear matters, he will have fallen into the prohibitions, just like a shepherd who grazes (his animals) near a private pasture, at any moment he is liable to enter it.)

The Sunan records that Al-Hasan bin 'Ali said that he heard the Messenger of Allah say,

"Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt."

Ahmad recorded that Sa'id bin Al-Musayyib said that 'Umar said, "The Ayah about Riba was one of the last Ayat to be revealed, and the Messenger of Allah died before he explained it to us. So leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.''

Ibn Majah recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

"Riba is seventy types, the least of which is equal to one having sexual intercourse with his mother."

'Ali and Ibn Mas'ud narrated that the Messenger of Allah said,

"May Allah curse whoever consumes Riba, whoever pays Riba, the two who are witnesses to it, and the scribe who records it."

They say they only have witnesses and a scribe to write the Riba contract when they want it to appear to be a legitimate agreement, but it is still invalid because the ruling is applied to the agreement itself, not the form that it appears in. Verily, deeds are judged by their intentions.

"Allah will destroy Riba and will give increase for Sadaqat. And Allah likes not the disbelievers, sinners. Truly, those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and perform the Salah and give Zakah, they will have their reward with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."

Allah has verified in the Qur'an that Riba destroyes wealth and Sadaqah, Zakah multiply wealth.

"And whatever you give for interest to increase within the wealth of people will not increase with Allah. But what you give in zakah, desiring th countenance of Allah - those are the multipliers."

[Al-Rum 30:39]

In another verse, Allah declares a painful punishment for those who give illegal interests.

"And (for) their taking of usury while they had been forbidden from it, and their consuming of the people's wealth unjustly. And we  have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment."

[Al-Nisa 4:161]

The prohibition from Riba is clarified in the following verse:

"O believers, take not doubled and redoubled interest qnd fear God so that you may prosper. Fear the fire that has been prepared for those who reject faith and obey God and the Peophet so that you may receive mercy."

Things we learnt:

> Riba (sood/interest) is haraam in Islam. These days, all the banks handle money through the system of loan (riba) which is haraam. When a sin becomes normal in everyday lifestyle, it hints that we are getting close to the end of the world.

> Allah has declared that the believers should not take excessive loans as it ruins their faith and their hearts become black with sins.

> Riba takes us away from Allah and anything that takes us away from Allah should be sacrificed because nothing in this world is worth facing Allah's wrath for.

> The rules, types and cases of Riba have not been clarified in detail because the verses of Riba were betided on the Prophet (S.A.W) towards the end of his age. Thus for solving those cases of Riba which we are in doubt of, it is better to sway away from Riba as a whole because knowingly avoiding a sin is better than unknowingly digging sins up our backs.

May Allah guide us to the right path.
Ameen.
Wama alayna illal balaghul mubeen.