RIBA IN THE PROPHETIC TRADITIONS

RIBA IN THE PROPHETIC TRADITIONS

Written by

Dr. Waquar Anwar

Published on

August 10, 2022

Riba, as practised prior to Islam, is described in the following tradition included in Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik.

Zayd ibn Aslam said, “Riba in the Jahiliya (days of ignorance – prior to Islam) was that a man would give a loan to a man for a set term. When the term was due, he would say, ‘Will you pay it off or increase me?’ If the man paid, he took it. If not, he increased him in his debt and lengthened the term for him.”

Such increase in amount payable for extension of time of payment is called riba in Islam. Numerous traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) have forbidden this practice. Imam Malik, while relating the above mentioned tradition of Zayd ibn Aslam, has even equated the cash credit, provided by the lender to the borrower for early recovery, in the same category.

He said, “The disapproved way of doing things, about which there is no dispute among us, is that a man should give a loan to a man for a term, and then the demander reduces it and the one from whom it is demanded pay it in advance. To us that is like someone who delays repaying his debt after it is due to his creditor and his creditor increases his debt.” Malik said, “This is nothing but riba. No doubt about it.”

This particular form of riba relating to increase in payment for deferment of payment and extension of time is called riba an-nasiyah. Another form of riba is the premium which has no counter value which is referred to as riba al-fazl.

 

SEVERITY OF RIBA IN HADITH

The Prophet has discouraged and disapproved riba in the strongest term. The severity of related hadith may be understood by considering the strong language used in these Prophetic traditions. Seldom has Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) used such words for other forbidden things as well. We shall examine some related traditions in the following lines.

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Apostle of Allah cursed the one who accepted riba, the one who paid it, the witness to it, and the one who recorded it. (Sunan of Abu-Dawood).

Abdallah ibn Hanzalah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet said: “A dirham of riba which a man receives knowingly is worse than committing adultery thirty-six times” (Mishkat al-Masabih, Kitab al-Buyu’, Bab al-riba). Bayhaqi has also reported the above hadith in Shu’ab al-iman with the addition that “Hell befits him whose flesh has been nourished by the unlawful.”

Obviously the unlawful in the above tradition means riba.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet said: “Riba has seventy segments, the least serious being equivalent to a man committing adultery with his own mother.” (Ibn Majah).

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him)  narrated that Allah’s Messenger said, “On the night when I was taken up to Heaven I came upon people whose bellies were like houses and contained snakes which could be seen from outside their bellies. I asked Gabriel who they were, and he told me that they were people who had practised riba.” (Al-Tirmidhi)

 Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said: “God would be justified in not allowing four persons to enter Paradise or to taste its blessings: he who drinks habitually, he who takes habitually, he who takes riba, he who usurps an orphan’s property without right, and he who is undutiful to his parents.” (Mustadrak al-Hakim, Kitab al-Buyu’)

Ali ibn Abu Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) heard Allah’s Messenger curse those who took riba, those who paid it, those who recorded it…. (Al-Tirmidhi)

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet said, “Avoid the seven great destructive sins.” They (the people) asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! What are they?” He said, “To join partners in worship with Allah; to practise sorcery; to kill the life which Allah has forbidden except for a just cause (according to Islamic law); to eat up riba, to eat up the property of an orphan; to give one’s back to the enemy and fleeing from the battlefield at the time of fighting and to accuse chaste women who never even think of anything touching chastity and are good believers.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)

These Prophetic traditions equate riba to the most heinous and abhorring crimes.

 

RIBA AND RAIBAH

The following quotation of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) is worth noting:

“The last verse to be revealed was on riba and the Prophet was taken without explaining it to us; so give up not only riba but also raibah [whatever raises doubts in the mind about its rightfulness]. (Ibn Majah)

This quotation of Umar ibn Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) does not mean that the verse in the Qur’ān related to prohibition of riba is the last verse revealed on Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him). It means that commandment relating to prohibition of riba came so much late in the life of the Prophet that much detailed instructions could not be got from him.

Two points should be understood clearly. Riba is involved in a number of human dealings and it was neither necessary nor possible to describe all possible conditions in details. Necessary principles on which men can understand the approach and requirements of the Shari’ah (Islamic law) have been provided. That much suffices. What Umar ibn Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said was meant to add an element of caution on account of the severity of prohibition of riba in the Qur’ān and the hadithsRaib means doubt and its derivative raibah would mean doubtful. So the caution is not only to keep riba (interest) but also raiba (doubtful deals and matters). Anything similar to riba and anything of doubtful credentials should be kept at bay.

This careful approach suggested by Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) may be read in contrast with the present day approach of stretching the provisions relating to riba in order to prove the validity of bank interest and other prevalent financial practices on the assertion that riba in Islam relates only to usury i.e. high rate of interest on consumption loan. This stand ignorers the historical fact that premium on all types of loans prevalent in the days of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), either of consumption nature or of trading/production nature, were forbidden. Also this is in complete violation of economic theories where any distinction between low rate of interest and high rate of usury is not tenable. Usury may be an abhorring expression in the English literature distinct from interest but in economics such different connotations have no base. We can call this distinction to be unscientific, and illogical.

Another point that should be considered is that transformation in a society cannot begin with financial affairs, rather they may come last. We can understand the statement of Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) implying that riba was prohibited in the last phase of the life of the Prophet. This need to be understood well that like all other reforms Islam too has a package, call it a distinct and complete system of life. Any attempt to bring in one element out of the whole package will be too frail and so is bound to fail! What comes last cannot be brought first! Beginning of reform has to be made with faith and morality and then only other things including financial reforms are possible.

Riba in the present day world has assumed unprecedented importance and it appears that an economy without interest is not physically possible and it is merely a utopia. The position today is akin to the prophecy of the Prophet in the following hadith.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet said, “There will certainly come a time for mankind when everyone will take riba and if he does not do so, its dust will reach him.” (Abu Dawood and Ibn Majah)

Mankind seems to be engulfed in the smoke created by riba.

 

FAREWELL SERMON

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah may be to him) gave farewell sermons to a large number of his followers during the last Hajj pilgrimage performed by him. It is reported that he gave three sermons, in Mina, Arafat and Makkah, the places where Muslims visit during the Hajj congregation. In all these sermons the Prophet gave farewell messages and touched upon the most important aspects of Islam. He talked about riba too in those sermons, as reported in the following hadith.

Jabir ibn ‘Abdallah (may Allah be pleased with him), giving a report on the Prophet’s Farewell Pilgrimage, said: The Prophet, addressed the people and said, “All of the riba of jahiliya (period of ignorance i.e. period before the Prophet) is annulled. The first riba that I annul is our riba, that accruing to ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib [the Prophet’s uncle]; it is being cancelled completely.” (Muslim, Kitab al-Hajj, and Musnad Ahmad)

A point needs to be clarified here. This sermon does not mean that ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib (the Prophet’s uncle) was engaged in the trade of providing loans on interest till the period of the Farewell Hajj of the Prophet. While forbidding riba, the Qur’ān specifies that thereafter principal of loans given earlier will be returnable but riba accumulated thereon were not payable. This sermon reiterated the position that all interest accumulation due on the loans provided by the Prophet’s uncle stands annulled.

 

DIFFERENT FORMS OF RIBA

The hadiths of the Prophet have clearly described different types of riba and in their light we can decide a new situation arising in our times. For example, we will discuss some of these Prophetic traditions in the following.

Abdallah ibn Abi Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet, said, “A najish (one who serves as an agent to bid up the price in an auction) is a cursed taker of riba.” (Tabarani’s al-Kabir)

In other words, false bidding in order to increase price is akin to riba.

Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet said, “Deceiving a mustarsal (an unknowing entrant into the market) is riba.” (Sunan al-Bayhaqi)

So if a villager comes to a town and goods are purchased from him before he reaches the market and comes to know about the prevailing price, and so is deceived, the person deceiving him practised riba.

The severity of prohibition of riba can be understood by following hadiths where any non-monetary or indirect benefit from providing loan, or even for recommending any benefit, has been described as riba.

Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet said, “When one of you grants a loan and the borrower offers him a dish, he should not accept it; and if the borrower offers a ride on an animal, he should not ride, unless the two of them have been previously accustomed to exchanging such favours mutually.” (Sunan al-Bayhaqi)

Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet said, “If a man extends a loan to someone he should not accept a gift.” (Bukhari)

Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Prophet said: “Whoever makes a recommendation for his brother and accepts a gift offered by him has entered riba through one of its large gates.” (Ahmad and Abu Dawood)

Surely, riba has many gates, big and small, and it can make inroads through any of them if a person is not alert to save himself from its ignominy.