“O you who believe!
Do not consume usury,
doubled and multiplied,
but fear Allah
that you may be successful.”
--(Al-Imran, 3: 131).
“Those who consume interest
cannot stand
(on the Day of Resurrection)
except as one stands
who is being beaten by Satan
into insanity.”
--(Al-Baqara 2: 276).
Interest or more precisely, interest rate
is defined as the price of money, the price at which money can be borrowed and
determined like other prices by the collusion of the forces of supply and
demand. Originally usury was any premium we had to pay against the use of
currency. Nowadays, usury also means the practice of asking for a very high
interest premium through borrowing as well.
The verses which I recited consist of an
injunction for mankind – especially Muslims – that represents and severely
condemns the practice of usury or interest. Thus any transaction relating to
usury (i.e. Riba) is illegal, as well as all transactions acquired by
illegal means; Transactions such as: bribes, fraudulent transactions, gambling,
bank interest, etc.
The Islamic principle wants that all our profits be earned
through our own efforts and risks. Once a companion asked the following
question to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh): “O Messenger of Allah, which
earning is purest?”
He (pbuh) said: “The earning of a man with his own
hand, and every honest transaction.” (Ahmad).
The pagan Arabs used to exploit the poor
by the practice of levying upon them a very large sum of money against a loan.
But they quickly abandoned this practice by embracing Islam, following the
following revelation:
“O believers!
Fear God,
and
forsake what is left of usury,
if you are faithful.” (Al-Baqara 2: 279).
Thus they accepted to forfeit usury of
their own accord, in spite of sometimes their financial difficulty. They
abandoned this practice only for the pleasure of Allah.
Usury is the means by which satan makes us
fall into that which is detestable. All that is detestable in the eyes of Allah
must also be detestable in our eyes. Let us do everything possible so that
Allah becomes satisfied with us and bless our resources and sources of revenue
and remove us from usury and from any act that is hateful in His sight. Ameen.
--- Friday Sermon of 18
November 2016(17 Safar 1438 AH) delivered by Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.