Showing posts with label trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trade. Show all posts

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Surah Quraysh: A Commentary

1. In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,
2. For the covenants (of security and safeguard enjoyed) by the Quraysh,
3. Their covenants (covering) journeys by winter and summer,-
4. Let them worship the Lord of this House,
5. Who provides them with food against hunger, and with security against fear (of danger)!

The Quraysh loved their city, Mecca and they were proud of this place. First of all, Mecca is positioned in such a way that the Quraysh and the other inhabitants of Mecca felt safe and moreover this place was the ideal place for trade and through this they earned a lot of profits. With all the facilities that Allah has given them, they should have been the first to accept that the message that Allah had revealed through His beloved Prophet (pbuh) is a message of truth. But unfortunately they turned their backs except a small part of them who had accepted the Message of Islam.

Who had given the Quraysh their talents for commerce/ trade, manual works and how to straighten out a difficult situation? It is Allah of course! He also gave them intuitions to move at the right time to trade and make Mecca a place where no enemy could enter. Despite all this, they rejected the message of Allah. Instead of showing gratitude to Allah, they denigrated His signs and His prophet.

This Surah shows us that all our successes and the powers we possess on this earth come from Allah. Without Him, we are helpless and powerless. So, for all the blessings that He gives us we must be grateful to Him for this and we must worship Him alone as He deserves and we must see that all our actions are in accord with His will and glory.

Saturday, November 19, 2016

'Riba': Unjust Enrichment is Illegal

“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.