The Garden of Knowledge

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

20 Jumaadal Aakhirah 1444/13 January 2023

All praise is due to Allah, the Cherisher, Sustainer, Nourisher and Provider of the entire creation. May peace, blessings and salutations be upon our Beloved Prophet Muhammed ﷺ.

In sha Allah we will be looking at 4 different sets of verses from the Holy Quran which were revealed on different occasions concerning Riba in chronological order.

The first verse is found in Surah Rum (Surah 30), verse 39 where Allah ﷻ says:

وَمَآ ءَاتَيْتُم مِّن رِّبًۭا لِّيَرْبُوَا۟ فِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِ ٱلنَّاسِ فَلَا يَرْبُوا۟ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ

“Whatever riba you give so that it may increase in the wealth of the people, will not increase with Allah ﷻ.”

Surah Rum is considered to be a Makkan surah which means that the surah was revealed in Makkah or it was revealed in the period when Nabi Muhammed ﷺ stayed in Makkah (first 13 years of Prophethood). What we know about the Makkan period is that the verses which we revealed were not so much of Ahkaam (Fiqh rulings) rather they were teachings of belief (faith) and reminders of the favors of Allah on previous nations and the Quraysh.

If we analyze this verse, we will notice that is not prohibitive in nature. There is an indication to the fact that the practice is not favorable and riba does not increase with Allah, meaning there is no reward in the hereafter. 

According to scholars such as Ibn Jarir at Tabari, reports from Ibn Abbas and many Tabieen make mention that the word riba in this verse does not mean interest/usury rather it means a gift offered by someone with the intention of receiving a greater gift from the latter. Scholars that have followed such as Hasan al Basri takes riba here to mean usury/interest. If the word riba is taken to mean usury which is most probable, it is because the word riba in other places of the Quran carries same meaning.

What is important for us to note is that at the time of revelation of this verse, riba was not prohibited, rather it was not favorable and discarded hence why scholars make mention that riba never existed in Islam. In the weeks to come we will take a look at the other verses of the Quran where riba is mentioned and identify at which stage of prophethood was riba explicitly prohibited.

May Allah ﷻ accept our efforts from us and grant us understanding In Sha Allah!

References:

• Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani; The Historical Judgement on Interest
• Tafsir Ibn Kathir
• Tafsir An Nasafi