Thou shall not steal
Exodus 20:13
IMRAN N. HOSEIN
Director of Islamic Studies
Joint Committee of Muslim Organizations
Of Greater New York
Director of Da’wah
Tanzeem-e-Islami of North America.
Published by
Umma vision Sdn. Bhd.
Kaula Lumpur. Malaysia
Copyrights: Imran N. Hosein
First Published 1997 by
Masjid Darul Qur’an.
Long Island. New York. USA
This Edition Published by
Ummavision Sdn. Bhd.
P. O. Box 11123
50736 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Dedicated
to my father
Ibrahim N. Hosein
the village school master
in the Caribbean island of
Trinidad
Who taught me to love Islam
May Allah have mercy on his soul
A m e e n!
THE
PROHIBITION OF RIBA
IN THE QUR’AN AND SUNN AH
Being an explanation of the
Islamic prohibition of riba (i.e. borrowing and lending on
interest. among other things) and an effort:
to remind Muslims of the
teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah as they pertain to the prohibition of riba
and in particular that a violation of this prohibition constitutes a great sin;
to expose the grand design
of hostile forces who have already made considerable progress, through riba
in gaining control over mankind. Their aim is to gain total control and to use
that power to destroy forth in Allah;
to assist Muslims to get out
of direct involvement in riba and thus to preserve their faith
(Imaan) while recognizing that it is today impossible to live a life which is
completely free from riba.
to explain the economic
Sunnah (i.e. the Sunnah as it pertains to economic affairs) and in particular
the nature of the free and fair market and the different ways through which
that market has today been totally corrupted.
to warn Muslims of the
inevitable collapse of the present fraudulent system of non-redeemable
artificial money, i.e. paper plastic and electronic money; and to encourage
them to return to the use of the real money created by Allah i.e. gold and
silver coins or any other real money;
to contribute towards the
restoration of the free and fair market (with a different business ethics to
that of riba-based capitalism) by encouraging ba’i (business) in
the place of riba and raising of capital by way of mudarabah and
musharaqa investments rather than bank loans on interest.
That time has
now arrived!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Imran N. Hosein was born in
Trinidad. West Indies, in 1942. He studied Islam under the guidance of the
distinguished Islamic scholar and Sufi Shaikh, Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fadlur
Rahman Ansari (Al-Qaderi), at the Aleemiyah Institute Of Islamic Studies,
Karachi, Pakistan. He also did post graduate studies in Philosophy at Karachi
University and in International Relations at the University of the West Indies,
Trinidad and the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva,
Switzerland.
A former Foreign Service
Officer in the Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Service. He resigned his job in 1985
to devote his life to the mission of Islam. He was appointed Principal of the
Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies Pakistan, a position he held until 1988.
In 1989 he migrated to USA and was appointed Director of the Institute for
Islamic Education and Research in Miami, Florida. Since 1991 he has worked in
New York as Director of Islamic Studies for the Joint Committee of Muslim
Organizations of Greater New York. This included the Islamic Community of the
United Nations at the UN headquarters in Manhattan, NY, where he has conducted
the Friday congregational prayers once monthly for six years. In December 1996
he was appointed by Dr. Israr Ahmad as Director of Da’wah for Tanzeem-e-Islami
of North America.
He has traveled extensively
in the cause of Islam visiting South East Asia, for example, seven times since
1988 on Islamic lecture tours. He has recently completed a full year of service
to the cause of Islam in the Caribbean islands of Grenada, Tobago and Trinidad.
As an author in Comparative
Religion he has produced a seminal work on ‘Islam and Buddhism in the Modem
World’ published in Pakistan in 1972. His works on Islam and International
Relations includes ‘Diplomacy in Islam - An Analysis of the Treaty of
Hudaibiyah’. A collection of his writings was published in Singapore in 1991
under the title ‘Islam and the Changing World Order’.
His most recent works
published in 1997 in the Ansari Memorial Series (which commemorate. the 25th
death anniversary of Dr Ansari), are:-
‘The Importance of the
Prohibition of Riba in Islam’
‘The Prohibition of Riba
in the Qur’an and Sunnah’
‘The Religion of Abraham and
the State of Israel - A View from the Qur’an’
‘The Caliphate. the Hejaz
and the Saudi-Wahhabi Nation-State’ and
‘One Jama’at, One Ameer -
The Organization of a Muslim Community in the Age of Fitan’
He hopes to complete two
more books in the Ansari Memorial Series on the topics: - ’Suratul Kahf and the
Modem Age’ and ‘An Islamic View of the Return of Jesus’.
CONTENTS
Preface
Chapter One: Introduction
- Method of Study
Chapter Two: Definition of Riba
- Different forma of riba
- Which is the most
dangerous form of riba?
- Riba and the
free market
- Payment of loan with an
extra amount permitted
- How much interest
constitutes riba?
Chapter Three: The
Prohibition of Riba in the Qur’an
- The Qur’anic method of
dealing with riba
- Qur’anic revelations prior
to the Qur’anic prohibition of riba
- First revelation on riba
- Riba leads
to fasad
- The prohibition of riba
in the Torah
- The prohibition of riba
in the Psalms (Zabur) of David
- Dhul Kifl and the
prohibition of riba
- The prohibition of riba
in the Gospel of Jesus
- Jewish rejection of
Muhammad and of the Qur’anic prohibition of riba lead to the
creation by Allah of a new ummah
- The second stage of the Qur’anic
prohibition of riba
- The third stage of the Qur’anic
prohibition of riba: total eradication of riba from
the economy
- Jesus. Imam al-Mahdi, and
the end of riba
Chapter Four: The
Prohibition of Riba in the Sunnah
- The strong language of the
Prophet on riba
- The Prophet and different
forms of riba
- Different forms of riba
- Note on ba'i muajjal
- Murabaha (to sell at a
profit)
- Bank loans and riba
al-fadl
- Bank interest and riba
- some dissenting views
- The Prophet. artificial
money, inflation and riba
Chapter Five: Some Basic
Responses to Riba
- Debt and the economic
Sunnah
- Helping to pay the debts
of others
- Qard hasana
- On seeking help and
entering into debt
- Austerity and the economic
Sunnah
- The economic Sunnah of
spending
- Food production
- Specific Proposal
- The strategy of public
confrontation
Chapter Six: Riba
and Dar al-Harb
Chapter Seven: Riba
and the Law of Necessity
Chapter Eight: Conclusion
Appendix - Questions and
answers on riba
PREFACE
This book, on the topic:
‘The Prohibition of Riba in the Qur’an and Sunnah' is site
second publication in the Ansari Memorial Series, published in honor of my teacher
and Shaikh of blessed memory. Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fadlur Rahman Ansari
(3914-1974). The first was a booklet entitled: The Importance of the
Prohibition of Riba in Islam. Because of the great danger posed
by riba and the critical importance of the subject, some 60.000
copies of that previous booklet were printed for free distribution in USA, and
in Malaysia and Singapore.
As a consequence of the
effort which I made to study riba. I have become acutely aware of
the fact that most Muslims do not have an adequate knowledge of this subject.
Some are incapable of understanding the subject because of veils before their
eyes. Others would rather not study the subject because life would become very
difficult if they had to make a sincere effort to abstain from riba.
That is a matter of great moment indeed.
Anas said that
he heard the Messenger of Allah say: Among the signs of the Last Hour will be
the removal of knowledge and the abundance of ignorance.....
(Bukhari, Muslim).
Around the world of Islam
today. ’Muslims urgently need books on riba which would explain
the subject with simplicity and clarity and such books must be given very wide
circulation. The purpose of our humble effort in writing this book as well as
the previous booklet in the Ansari Memorial Series: The Importance of the
Prohibition of Riba in Islam is to attempt to fill a dangerous
void. If we have failed in any way, it is because of our short comings and we would
certainly welcome comments, assistance and advice from our leaders. If we have
succeeded in any way it is solely because of Allah s Grace.
A basic Feature of the style
we have adopted for dealing with this difficult subject is to let-the Qur’an
and the hadith address the reader as much as possible and to limit the comments
of the writer. Our basic role has been one of organizing the material and
presenting it in a systematic way. Some verses of the Qur’an and some ahadith
of the Prophet, are repeated in different places in the book. The reason for
this is because the texts that are repeated have a manifold application. The (s)
after the names of Prophets is an abbreviation for ‘peace and blessings of
Allah be upon them'. And the (ra) after the names of companions of the Prophet (s)
is an abbreviation for ‘Allah is pleased with them.’
The exposition of the
subject has exposed the gigantic fraud through which al-Masih al-Dajjal (the
Anti-Christ) seeks to reduce the Muslim masses, by deception, to destitution
and as a consequence to kufr (disbelief). We hope that knowledge of riba
will lead our readers to appropriate action which would counteract these evil
forces Insha Allah.
A number of friends and
colleagues have reviewed the manuscript of this book and made valuable
suggestions. Among them were Siddiq Ahmad Nasir, Ali Mustafa, Al Fahime Jobe,
Kem Kamaluddeen and Dr. Shujuat Ali Khan. Some who reviewed the manuscript
specifically requested that their names not be mentioned in this preface ~ an
indication perhaps of the difficulties which already confront those who dare to
raise the subject of the prohibition of riba in Islam. Fifty
years front now it might be impossibly difficult for a Muslim to even teach this
subject. So great will be the ignorance of Islam and so thoroughly brainwashed
will the masses be.
We pray that Allah’s mercy
and blessings on Abu Sulaiman Asghar Hassan and Umm Lubna Mabboob Fatima as
well as on Brother Abdul Rasheed, all of Singapore, whose kindness and
generosity made it possible for us to research and write this work. Haji
Muhammad Saleem’s generous grant, which was made in the names of his parents,
for meeting the cost of printing this book (first edition) is also gratefully
acknowledged. May Allah bless, forgive and show mercy to his parents, Marhoom
Zafar Ali and Ashraf Jan of Rawal pindi, Pakistan. Ameen!
We are specially grateful to
Brs. Aftabuddin and Shakeel (of Sanatech Printers) for their labour of love in
respect of the page making and printing of this book and to Muhammad Yar for
designing the cover. Irfan Quraishi provided me with both the computer and printer
used in preparing the MS of this book and Nabeel al-Masry introduced me to the
Word Perfect Windows word-processing program. May Allah bless them all. Ameen!
I N H
Masjid Dar al Qur’an
Long Island. New York.
Shawwal 1417 /February 1997
to be continued . . . .
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