THIRD STAGE OF THE
QUR’ANIC REVELATIONS FOR THE PROHIBITION OF RIBA: THE TOTAL ELIMINATION
OF RIBA FROM THE ECONOMY
It was a matter of great
moment that the Prophet (s) chose his sermon on the occasion of the
farewell pilgrimage, just three months before his death, to launch the effort
for the final and complete elimination of riba from Muslim
society:
O People, listen to my words,
for I do not know whether I shall meet you again on such an occasion in the
future. . .
All interest (riba)
obligation shall henceforth be waived. Your capital, however is yours to keep
(in accepting the return of only the principal sum lent) you shall neither be
inflicting injury nor yourselves suffering inequity. Allah has judged that
there shall be no interest (riba) and that all the interest due to
'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib shall hence-forth he waived . . .
What the Prophet (s)
did was to enforce the legislation prohibiting riba (revealed in Surah
ale-'Imran) retroactively. Thus the third stage of the process of dealing
with riba was one which witnessed the total and complete eradication
of riba from the society.
Some two months later came
the last Qur’anic revelation on riba, which was also the last
revelation in the Qur’an and which come down to complete the revelation of the
entire Qur'an. It was revealed shortly before the death of the Prophet (s)
and it confirmed the third stage which had already been promulgated by the
Prophet (s) at A’rafat applied the prohibition against riba
retro actively in order to achieve the complete eradication of riba
from economy. It annulled all outstanding riba transactions, thus
effecting a total and complete elimination of riba from the
economy. It instructed Muslims to recover only the principal sum lent, and thus
eliminated even small interest payments or service charges. It urged the creditor
to forego even the principal in case of the borrower’s hardship thus bringing
about debt relief. The revelation again severely censured riba,
but this time it responded to those who argued that riba is but a
form or trade. The Qur’an rejected that argument and went on to establish a
clear distinction between trade and riba:
Those
who spend their wealth by night and by day, secretly and openly - surely for
such (people) there is reward with their Lord, nor shall they have cause for
fear or grief.
Those
who live off the interest (riba) on loans behave but as might behave those whom
Satan has confounded with his touch; That is because they say: Trade is similar
to taking interest (riba). Yet Allah has permitted trading and forbidden taking
interest (riba). Anyone who receives such an instruction from his Lord and
thereupon desists (from riba) may keep his past gains (i.e the riba he
previously accepted), and his affair rests with Allah (i.e. it will be for
Allah to judge him). But as for those who return to it - they are destined for
the fire, therein to abide forever!
(And
remember that) Allah deprives riba (usurious gains) of all blessings, whereas
He blesses charitable deeds with manifold increase. And Allah does not love
anyone who is stubbornly ingrate and persists in sinful ways. (So do not be
stubborn and persist in riba even after this revelation has reached you).
Verily
those who have attained to faith and do good works and are constant in prayer
and dispense charity - they shall have their reward from their Lord and no fear
need they have and neither shall they grieve. O you who have attained to faith!
Remain conscious of Allah and give up all the riba which is outstanding (i.e.
which people still owe you) if you are truly believers.
If you
do not do so (i.e. if you do not give up outstanding riba) then take notice of
war from Allah and His Messenger (i.e. take notice of an ultimatum of war for
the liberation of debtors unjustly dealt with and oppressed). But if you turn
away (i.e. if you give up riba) then you shall have (i.e. you will be entitled
to) only your principal sums (which you had lent on the basis of riba) (i.e.
you may have only the principal, - not the principal plus a reasonable amount
of interest).
You
deal not unjustly and you shall not be dealt with unjustly. (This might more
properly be understood as follows: In accepting the return of only the
principal sum lent you will not be inflicting injustice on the borrower. and in
giving up the interest which was due will not, yourself, be subjected to any
injustice.)
If the
debtor is in difficulty, grant him time until it is easy for him to repay. But
if you remit it (i.e. if you write off the debt) by way of charity, that will
be best for you. if you only knew.
And
fear the Day when you shall be brought back to Allah, then every soul will be
paid what it earned and you shall not be dealt with unjustly.
(Qur’an: al-Baqarah:-
2:275-281)
An indication of the tremendous
importance which Allah, the Most High, devoted to the elimination of riba
can be discerned from the fact that this was, as we noted earlier, the last
revelation of the Qur’an to be sent down (the last revelation was in fact,
verses 179-181 and so 174-178 must have been revealed earlier). The dedication
of war against usurers by Allah, the Most High, and His Messenger (s) is
by far the most forceful language used in the Qur’an against sinners.
Now a declaration of war by
Allah, the Most High and His Messenger (s) must definitely implicate the
believers. The implication is that the oppressed were given a divine sanction to
wage war, to kill and to be killed, in an effort to extricate themselves from
the oppression that is inherent in riba. The believers were also
required to wage war to eradicate riba from any society and from
any territory whose oppressed people were crying out for help. My teacher of
blessed memory Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fadlur Rahman Ansari (may Allah have
mercy on him) further argued the case for the use of force in view of the fact
that the Qur’an: . . enjoins active steps,
through coercive authority for ending exploitation. He
quoted, in this connection the following verse:
If two
parties among the believers fall into a quarrel, make peace between them. But
if one of them transgresses beyond bounds against the other then fight (all of
you) against the one that transgresses until it complies with the command of
Allah.
(Qur ’an: al-Hujurat: 49:9)
He went on to explain that the
verse in its general bearing ... provides also the principle that if a group
of Muslims tries to exploit another group, it is the duty of the Islamic State
to restrain the exploiters by force. And he concluded by pointing out that:
The prohibition of usury and interest (riba), whereby the rich
exploit the poor, is part of the Qur’anic legislation (requiring the use of
force for eradicating it). . .
Finally the last revelation
to be sent down concerning riba continued the process of
education which characterized all previous revelations on the subject. In the
last revelation Allah, the Most High, again effected a contrast between ‘charity’
and ‘riba’ and between ‘spending’ and ‘riba’. Of
course spending should not be understood in terms of conspicuous consumption,
spending on luxury items, etc.
When people spend of their wealth,
wealth circulate, in the economy. Everybody benefits from such. Or anyone can
benefit from such. When spending bypasses the market, however which is what
happens in riba transactions then only some will benefit. Thus
when an economy is based on riba it should be as clear as
daylight that the rich will always remain rich and the poor will be permanently
poor. In fact it is worse than that. The rich will keep on growing richer and
the poor will become poorer. That is a recipe for the breakdown of any social
order. And that is precisely what the world has been witnessing for at least
one hundred years now.
Thus the last stage of the Qur’anic
revelation dealing with riba accomplished the following:
- retro-active enforcement of the legislation prohibiting riba;
- sanction for waging war to eradicate riba ;
- debt relief;
- process of education continued.
to be continued . . . .
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