“Whatever you pay as interest so that it may increase the wealth of people does not increase in the sight of Allah. As for Zakāh that you give, seeking with it Allah’s good pleasure, that is multiplied manifold.”
(Al Qur’ān – 30:39)
This is the first Qur’ānicayah expressing disapproval of interest. The ayah confines itself to stressing only one point – that those who pay interest do so under the impression that the excess they pay to the lender over and above the principal will increase the latter’s wealth. Contrary to this, in God’s sight, it is Zakāh rather than interest that causes increases in wealth. Subsequently, when an injunction prohibiting interest was revealed during the Madinan period of the Prophet’s life, the following addition was made: “Allah deprives interest of all blessing, whereas He blesses charity with growth.” (Al-Baqarah 2:276)
It is pertinent to know that this ayah was revealed at a time when the Qur’ān had not declared interest as prohibited.
As for Zakāh, Allah multiplies it manifold. There is no upper limit to this multiplication of wealth. The greater a person’s sincerity, spirit of sacrifice, and desire to seek God’s good pleasure when he spends his wealth in God’s cause, the greater will be his reward. Thus we find a tradition according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) said that if a person gives a single date in charity for God’s sake, God can increase its reward to him manifold, so much so that it will become equal to Mount Uḥud.