Usury- A grave sin

 Introduction

 

It is a fact that Islam has such universality in it that its laws can be followed at all times and in all places.  Human life is surrounded by various frameworks, the social framework, the political framework, the economic framework, etc.  For all these frameworks, Islam has given laws which are based on justice and equity.  Among all the frameworks that surround the society, the economic framework is one of the most important ones.  In the present times, because of modern inventions and advances, business dealings have expanded internationally.  A businessman living in one corner of the world can get whatever he wants about the business conditions of the whole world in the twinkling of an eye.  In the olden days, there would be local and regional markets and as their resources were limited, their business also would be on a limited scale.  However nowadays, the whole world is connected through the internet, which has turned the whole world into one huge market.  Anybody living in any corner of the world can buy and sell goods to anyone anywhere else on the planet.  This is really encouraging as far as business is concerned.

 

Usury – Reason behind economic crises

 

If the circulation of money stops and money is frozen in the hands of a few people, then progress comes to a grinding halt.  The markets go cold, which is a sign of an economic downturn and this in turn leads to economic anarchy.  The main reason for all this is the circulation of money being limited to a certain class of people.  It should not be that the rich class gets more and more rich and the poorer class slides even deeper into the mire of poverty.

 

            To prevent anything like this from happening, Islam has fixed appropriate rules of buying and selling and has declared usury as a grave sin.  For wealthy Muslims, Zakaat has been decreed and other charities have also been encouraged.  It has been declared Compulsory (Wajib) to give some charity when slipping up in performing certain forms of worship.  Even in war booty, one-fifth of it is to be deposited into the public treasury so that wealth comes to the poor as well and doesn’t remain congealed in a few hands.

 

The Holy Quran declared war against the usurers

 

One of the major obstacles in the free flow of wealth is usury.  The Holy Quran has declared usury as such a major sin that no other sin has been described in such terms as usury has been described.  The Holy Quran has not used the following words for consuming wine, pork, adultery, etc.  Almighty Allah has declared in the Holy Quran:

 

Surah Baqarah 278/279

 

Almighty Allah declares a war against the usurers.

 

            Who among has the strength (?) to battle the Lord Almighty Himself and His Beloved Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)?  The only reason behind such a brutal warning is that we should absolutely stay away from usury and that we should consider this the gravest of all sins and should make sure our earnings are Halaal, the blessings of which will be apparent in this world and blessings are the hereafter.  Allah Most High says in the Holy Quran:

 

Surah Baqarah 275

 

Usurer will be bewildered on the Day of Judgment

 

Consuming usury is such a grave sin that the Holy Quran has warned against this time and again and has also warned that if one doesn’t stay away from this, then in this world also one will face humility and debasement and the hereafter also will be spoiled.  When the usurer will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment, he/she will be plagued with madness as if Satan has cast some effect on him/her.  Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran:

 

Surah Baqarah 275

 

After listening to all these warnings, one will surely think about how to save oneself from this humiliation and how to get blessings and prosperity in one’s life.  The answer to all this will be to earn one’s living in a Halaal manner and to save oneself from usury.  If we do this, then surely success and prosperity will be ours and our life be delightful in both this world and the next.

 

Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran:

 

Surah Ale Imran 130

 

Usurer –Cut off from divine mercy

 

We learn from these verses of the Holy Quran that usury is explicitly forbidden and dealing in it is a very grave sin.  We get more details about this from the Hadith.  There are glad tidings of reward on abandoning usury.  Apart from those who consume usury, all those people who are with them in these transactions are also committing a sin.  They will also be cut off from the mercy and benevolence of Allah Most High.

 

There is a Hadith in Sahih Muslim and Sunan Ibn Majah:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Jabir (May Allah be well pleased with him), he says that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has cursed those who consume usury, those who give usury, those who maintain documents of usurious transactions and those who give witness to it and has said that all of them are equal (in sin).  (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 2955; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No. 2268)

 

 

 

Usury – Worse than adultery

 

Human beings have not understood the ill-effects of usury properly and have not been able to fathom the vileness of it.  They have neither paid any attention to the ills brought about by usury nor have they thought about the punishment of the hereafter itself.  What has made humanity so heedless?

 

            The social ill-effects of usury and its loathsomeness can be understood with the following Hadith:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin Hanzlah (May Allah be well pleased with them), he says that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  Deliberately consuming one Dirham (or rupee as the case may be) is worse than fornicating 36 times.  (Musnad Imam Ahmed bin Hambal, Hadith No. 20951)

 

There is another Hadith in Mishkaat Ul Masabeeh:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him), he says that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  There are 70 degrees of (consuming) usury, the least of which is fornicating with one’s own mother.  (Mishkaat Ul Masabeeh, Hadith No. 2826)

 

May Allah protect us!  A usurer is committing such a grave sin, his/her character is being stained by such a sin that a modest and decent person can never bear it.  The way a Muslim (or any decent human being) can’t even think of fornicating with one’s own mother, in the same way, humanity and brotherhood demands that he/she shouldn’t even think about usury

 

A usurer deserves hell

 

A usurer is not only accumulating losses in this world, even his/her hereafter is being darkened because of this sin.  Hell is declared to be the dwelling of the usurer.  Because of consuming usury and forbidden earnings, his/her body becomes liable of being burnt in hell.  There is a Hadith in Shua’bul Iman:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas (May Allah be well pleased with them) who relates from the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) that He (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  The flesh which is nourished by forbidden earnings is best suitable only for hell.  (Shua’bul Iman, Hadith No. 5277)

 

            Usurious transactions appear profitable on the face of it, but the usurer falls prey to such (spiritual) diseases because of it that even in this advanced age no doctor or surgeon can treat them.  For e.g., the urge to sacrifice for others becomes extinct in the usurer, generosity leaves him/her.  The usurer loses his/her Islamic fervor.  The end result is that the usurer doesn’t feel the difficulty of his brother, so much so that the usurer takes advantage of the poverty of his brother and starts leeching him.  When his brother asks him for monetary help, he does give it but takes back more than the amount that he had lent.  Thus, Islam has declared usury as forbidden.

 

Order not to accept any gift from the person who owes any money

 

Islam has stressed mutual help and cooperation to wipe out usury.  If anyone is needy, then Islam instructs one and all to give that person a non-interest based loan so that the needy person can fulfill his need and return the amount easily.  The Shariah has given highly meticulous guidelines in this regard.  Islam instructs us to avoid not only usury but everything that mighty be construed as usury.  The lender accepting any gift from the borrower or drawing any other benefit from the borrower might be construed as usury and is therefore forbidden.  This is because if the lender had not lent money, the borrower would not have given him gifts.

 

However, if the relations between them predate the loan and there already had been an exchange of gifts between them before this loan, then there is no problem in doing so after the loan has been given as well.  As mentioned in this Hadith of Sunan Ibn Majah:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Yahya bin Abu Ishaaq Hanaai (May Allah be well pleased with him), he says:  I asked Hadhrat Anas bin Malik (May Allah be well pleased with him):  If we give any loan to our brother, then should he give a gift also when returning the loan?  Hadhrat Anas (May Allah be well pleased with him) said:  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  If someone gives a loan to someone and that borrower gives him a gift or offers him a lift on his mount, then the lender should not mount the animal.  However, if before giving the loan there used to an exchange of gifts between them, then it is permitted.  (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No. 2526)

 

Reward on being lenient with the borrower

 

If any borrower is needy, then the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has instructed the Muslims to be gentle with him and to give him more time for repayment of the loan.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has also given glad tidings for the person who extends the time for repayment of loan.  There is a Hadith in Musnad Imam Ahmed bin Hambal:

 

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Sulaiman bin Buraidah (May Allah be well pleased with him) who narrates on the authority of his father, he said:  I heard the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) say: The person who extends the time of repayment for a borrower will get reward as if he (or she) is giving the same amount (that is owed to him) in charity every day.  He said:  Then I again heard the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) say:  If any person extends the time of repayment for a borrower, he (or she) will get the reward of giving double that amount in charity every day.  Then the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) clarified this: The reward of giving the same amount in charity is when extension is given before the time is up.  If the time for repayment is up and the borrower can’t repay the loan and then the time is extended, then the reward is of giving double that amount in charity. (Musnad Imam Ahmed bin Hambal, Hadith No. 23748)

 

A usurer – Selfish and greedy

 

Forget about benefiting others, a usurer can’t stand seeing anyone becoming equal to him/her in wealth.  Instead of having mercy on a person in need and helping out that person they try to exploit that person and try to suck the very blood out of that person.

 

            Because of usury, the selfishness and greed of that person increases to such a pitch that submerged in it, he doesn’t see what is right and what is wrong and is completely heedless of his ultimate outcome.  On the face of it, it seems that the usurer is gaining more money, but in reality, his money/wealth is actually decreasing.

 

Almighty Allah has declared in the Holy Quran:

 

Surah Baqarah-276

 

            Some people might think that today the usurers are enjoying luxury and affluence and are leading “happy” lives.  They own huge buildings and have all the trappings of opulence and splendor.  But even with a little reflection, any one can understand that there is a world of a difference between the outward trappings of luxury and comfort and actual comfort and solace.  The mechanical tools of luxury are manufactured in factories, but actual comfort itself can neither be manufactured like that nor can be sold in markets.  No rich person can spend money and simply buy it off the shelves.  Solace and comfort is in fact a great bounty of Allah which is granted from the Court of Allah Most High for the sake of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  We can gain solace in this world and the next when we obey the precepts of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).

 

Just think about sleep itself.  Many big industrialists are there whose companies churn out the trappings of comfort and flood the markets with them.  They themselves can’t enjoy restful sleep.  When we look closely at the usurers, we will realize that they might have everything, but don’t have any solace in the life.  On the other hand, consider a person who lives in a dingy hovel way below the poverty line, earns only as much as he needs, is firm on the Shariah and earns his livelihood in a Halaal manner.  This person leads a much more peaceful life and sleeps without a care.

 

May Almighty Allah keep us free from usury and guide us to do business and earn our livelihoods in a Halaal manner.