There has been much talk and debate on
the position of Islam as regards to
Usury and Interest in financial
institutions, most especially the
Banks whereby majority of the scholars
and writers hold the view that the duo
(Usury and Interest) are synonymous;
hence they submit that either words
means increase, grow or exceed on the
principal or excess or addition paid
over principal, which is strongly
prohibited by the Qur'an. However,
other scholars opined that the concept
of Usury and Interest is a clear one
and it all depends on ones level of
indulgence and/or commitment to the
former, especially when it comes to
money lending where the money is
advanced for consumption purposes etc,
whereas the latter they said, is a
reasonable charge for the use of money
employed in productive process. And
they concluded that "Interest,
therefore is not prohibited by the
Qur'an".
Today, the discourse will focus on the
above arguments from more realistic
Islamic points of view with the hope
of driving an object between the two
diversionary/reactionary schools of
thought; so that in the end one can
unconditionally succumb to the other.
But before we proceed, let's look at
the literal meanings of these two
words in a simple lexicon. Interest-
"Is the extra money paid in
return for borrowing money or that
which one receives when he/she invests
money". Usury on the other hand,
"Is the practice of lending money
to people at unfairly high rates of
interest".
From these definitions, it suffices to
see that there is distinction between
the words but comparatively one can
also see clearly that they are not
quite unconnected with certain
complements and similarities.
However, Islam and Islamic doctrines,
especially in the early part of the
7th century of the Christian era have
absolutely condemned the institution
of interest. The Qur'an says " Ya
ayyuhallazina amanu ittakullaha wa
zaru ma bakiya min-al Riba in kuntum
mu'uminin. Fa illam taf'alu fa'zanu bi
harbin minallahi wa rasulih. Wa in
tubtum falakum ru'usu amwalikum la
tadhlimuna wala tudhlamun".
Meaning: O ye, who believe, have fear
of Allah and waive what is still due
to you from usury, if your faith be
true; or war shall be declared against
you by Allah and His apostle. If you
repent, you may retain your principal,
wronging none (with increase) without
being wronged (by suffering a loss).
(Q 2: 278-279).
Here, the conflicting views of the
scholars on the above verses is that
the entire verses they said, generally
defined increment in terms of
interest/ usury on money lending in
whatever ramifications as an
abomination. Hence, some tried to draw
their own explanation based on the
understanding of the facts they hold
at hand. But as Dawud Mustafa (Abu
Muhammad) quoted Imtiaz in his
"Islamic critique of the
institution of interest", i.e.
"Both interest and usury are
similar on the fact that they are both
increases that are paid on the
principal by the debtor to the
creditor. They differ, however, on the
amount of increase. Usury is an
exorbitant illegal increase, while
interest is a reasonable unlawful
increase". But this view is
diametrically opposed by some fuqaha
(Islamic researchers and jurists) who
submit that: God in His infinite mercy
has made the position of usury clear
in the Qur'an by saying:
"Ya ayyuhallazina amanu la
ta'akulul Riba ad'afammuda'afah. Watta
kullaha la'allakum tuflihun",
Meaning: O believers, devour not
usury, doubling its rates many times.
Have fear of Allah, and you shall
prosper. (Q3: 130).
Now comparing the three verses of the
two chapters (2&3) and the two
divergent interpretations by the
ulamas, one can drive a genuine and
rational explanation by querying thus:
Are Ulamas trying to assert that these
verses (the ones in Suratul Baqra and
the other in Suratul Imran) have
counter explanations as to the concept
of Riba? Or were they not clear and
able to read adequate meanings into
the verses? First, let's beware that:
none of the Qur'anic verses have a
counter and/or conflicting explanation
of each other. Secondly, all the
verses in the Qur'an are devoid of
intricacies unless they are
misconceived by the interpreters. For
instance, when Allah says in the above
verse "O believers, devour not
usury, doubling its rates many
times…" He does not say it is
only when 'Riba' is doubled, tripled
or even quadrupled that it becomes
forbidden. No, it was the ulamas that
say" ila adh'afin kathira",
which means it's just about an
increment. Period! And this issue of
Riba is explicitly stated in other
Qur'anic verses with the same imports.
For example, God says "Wama
ataitum mirriballiyarbuwa fi amwalin
nasi fala yarbu inda-Allahi wama
ataitum min zakatin yuriduna wajhallah.
Fa'ula'ika humul mudh ifun", i.e.
.That which you give in usury so that
it may increase in other people's
property will not increase with Allah;
but the alms you give for His sake
shall be repaid to you many times
over.(Q30: 39). And elsewhere in the
Qur'an Allah says "Those who take
usury shall rise up before Allah like
men who Satan has demented by his
touch; for they claim that usury is
like trading. But Allah Has permitted
trading and forbidden usury. He that
receives an admonition from his lord
and mends his ways may keep what he
has already earned; his fate is in the
hands of Allah. But he that pays no
heed shall be among the people of the
fire and shall remain in it
forever"(Q2: 275)
Again, Abu Muhammad cited Afzalur-
Rahman in 1979, i.e. "The concept
of interest as connoted by the word
Riba (usury) in the Qur'an is one of
those subjects which have been
misconceived and deliberately
misinterpreted and wrongly criticized
by some modern Muslims who may have
never gone through the Qur'an in their
life". He also asserted that
other religions and non-Muslim
scholars have condemned Interest with
all its associated evils. Thinkers and
philosophers such as Aristotle and
Plato unequivocally condemned Interest
as being exploitative and unjust. Karl
max was also not comfortable with
interest that he considered it as
theft. They strongly believed that it
has greater negative effect on the
universal economic well being of
societies. It is also due to its
injustice and exploitative tendency
that it was outlawed by religions such
as Judaism and Christianity. In
Judaism under Deuteronomy, it says:
"Thou shalt not lend to thy
brother money to usury, nor corn, nor
any other thing, but to the stranger.
To thy brother thou shalt lend that
which he wanted, without usury: that
the Lord thy God may bless thee in all
thy works in the land, which thou
shalt go into posses. (Deut23:19-20).
And still in Judaism under Leviticus,
it states "Take not usury of him
nor more than thou gavest. Fear thy
God that thy brother may live with
thee. Thou shall not give money upon
usury: nor exact of him any increase
of fruits (Levit 25: 36-37). So also
the same Judaic import under exodus,
explains " If thou lend money to
any of my people that is poor, that
dwelleth with thee: thou shalt not be
hard upon them as an extortioner, nor
oppress them with usuries. (Exodus 25:
25).
Christianity, however, forbade
interest and usuries. For instance,
the Bible queried thus: "And if
you lend to them of whom you hope to
receive, what thanks are to you? For
the sinners also lend to sinners, for
to receive as much. But the Bible
suggests " Love ye your enemies:
do good, and lend, hoping for nothing
thereby: and your reward shall be
great, and you shall be the sons of
the Highest…" (Luke 6: 34-35).
From the foregoing therefore, it
become compulsory upon the entire
Muslim world and the Islamic Banking
movement to take a pause and resolve
once and for all the debate on Riba
and Interest based on the following
cardinal questions: One: Is the
modern interest being charged by
conventional Banks the same as Riba
mentioned in the Qur'an?
Two: Are these conventional Banks
driving their profits out of the
interest being generated by them, and
do they pay their employees from that
profit? If so, what is the status of
those employees in Islam?
Three: How about the issue of
purchasing shares from these
conventional Banks whereby the
shareholder would be given excess
based on the Interest and growth of
his/her capital (principal)?
Akulu kauli haza wa'astagfirullah li
walakum (May Allah forgive me and you)
TO BE CONTINUED...
*Jibo Nura, Quantity Surveyor,
writes from Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria-Nigeria
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