THE SECOND STAGE OF THE QUR’ANIC PROHIBITION OF RIBA
The second stage in the
process of revelation dealing with riba was promulgated in a
verse of the Qur’an located in Surah Aal 'Imran (Ch. 3) and revealed
shortly after the battle of uhud (3 H). It continued the process of
education by expanding the treatment of the subject through directing attention
to one of the glaring injustices which occurs in riba;
Oh you
who believe, do not gorge yourselves on riba, doubling and redoubling (the sum
lent), but fear Allah that you may be successful. Fear the fire which is
prepared for those who reject faith. And obey Allah and the Messenger that you
may obtain mercy.
(Qur’an: Aal 'Imran: - 3:130)
It is manifestly immoral and
a grave act of economic injustice indeed a form of extortion that a debtor
should have to pay in interest two, three and more times the sum borrowed, in
order to liquidate a debt. The Qur’an therefore pointed to the grave injustice
which as inflicted on the borrower through the usurious loan or riba.
But the second stage of the
process of dealing with riba was also achieved in this revelation
since it promulgated legislation. The law now prohibited riba
transactions. If anyone were to control a riba transaction after
this verse had been revealed, it would have no legal validity.
It is of crucial importance for
us to note that, while legislation was promulgated prohibiting riba,
there was no retroactive enforcement of the prohibition. Thus all riba
loans which were contracted before the legislation prohibiting riba
was revealed, still remained legally valid. The debtor still had to pay the
interest. It was only that loan which was contracted after the prohibition of riba
was revealed and which required the debtor to repay the loan with interest
which was now invalid.
The reason for this
reluctance to enforce the legislation retroactively appears to be located in
the tremendous disruption in the economic life of the society which such a
policy would produce. The forces of oppression would greedily exploit such a
situation to advantage to seek to turn public opinion against the prohibition.
Secondly, it appears that the elimination of riba from an economy
cannot be effected solely on the basis of legislation. There must also be
a concomitant spiritual revolution which would bring public opinion to bear in
support of the goal.
It was for this reason
perhaps, that the second stage of the Qur’anic process of eliminating riba
lasted for some six years. During this period as we just noted, old riba
loans were still legally valid. It was new loans which would be invalid. The
strategy at this stage was to put moral and spiritual pressure to bear on those
who still demanded their riba. The objective was to penetrate
their hearts and conscience, arouse their humanity and persuade them to
voluntarily give up their demand of riba.
It is truly an amazing thing
to behold that William Shakespeare, in his famous play Merchant of Venice,
accurately penetrated the very substance of this, the second stage of the
divine method of attacking and eradicating Shylock, the Jewish money-lender, had
become quite wealthy in Venice while practicing his profession of lending money
on interest. The borrower usually had to pledge a bond (i.e. some item of his
which was of greater value than the sum being borrowed) and Shylock would often
get wind-falls in profits from forfeiting bonds for loans which had gone into
default.
His nemesis was a Christian
merchant named Antonio who would rail against him publicly in the market
denouncing him for practicing a profession which God had prohibited namely, lending
money on interest.
Antonio was one day forced
to approach Shylock for a loan so that he could help a friend who was in
desperate need. Shylock saw his chance to get even with his tormentor, Antonio.
He entered into a contract to lend a sum of money on the condition that it be
repaid within a specific period of time. He waived the requirement of interest
on the loan. The loan however, was unsecured. All of Antonio's wealth was on
trading ships at sea. The borrower therefore had no property which could be
secured as collateral. Shylock saw his chance and suggested that the loan be
secured with a pound of the borrower's flesh which was nearest to the heart.
Antonio thought that it was a joke and agreed. The contract therefore
stipulated that in the event the loan went into default Shylock was entitled to
take that pound of Antonio's flesh.
Antonio received news sometime
later, that his ships were all lost at sea. When the loan went into default, Shylock
went to court and demanded his pound of flesh. The Jewish money-lender could
not allow such a loan to go into default and not seize the opportunity of
exacting some retributive as well as deterrent punishment on a borrower who had
persistently obstructed him in his chosen profession. Antonio now realized to
his great surprise and dismay that the Jewish money-lender was not joking. He
really wanted his pound of flesh.
Shakespeare appointed a
defense attorney Portia, who pleaded with Shylock with the greatest ethical
eloquence, attempting to invoke his humanity and urging him to show kindness,
compassion and sympathy. Shylock was of course, legally entitled to the riba
which Shakespeare, in a magnificent demonstration of his understanding of the
subject, symbolized with a pound of human flesh. But Portia argued that the
pursuit of that legal demand was creating a moral and spiritual stench.
Portia’s eloquent appeal to
higher values was quite similar in nature to the second stage in the process
through which the Qur’anic revelation addressed the subject of riba.
It was as though Shakespeare himself (or whoever may have been the true author
of the play) studied the subject in the Qur’an and had grasped the essential
guidance.
Portia first established
that the loan was in default and that the contract now permitted Shylock to
take a pound of flesh. She then pleaded with Shylock to show mercy. She drew
his attention to the fact that friends of Antonio were prepared to pay him up to
twenty times the principal sum lent. Despite Portia’s eloquent pleas Shylock
did not yield from his demand for the pound of flesh. Shylock's heart was as
hard as stone. The Qur’an described precisely that condition in the hearts of
Jewish people;
Thenceforth
your hearts hardened: they became like a rock and even worse in hardness. For
among rocks there are some from which rivers gush forth; others there are which
when split asunder send forth water; and others which sink for fear of Allah.
And Allah is not unmindful of what you do.
(Qur’an; al-Baqarah:- 2:74)
Shylock had lost his humanity;
lost consciousness of his true nature. It was as though Satan had driven him to
a kind of madness by his touch! The Qur’an speaks of precisely such a state:
Those
who consume riba will not stand (i.e. behave) except as stands (or behaves) he
who has been driven to madness by the touch of Satan.
(Qur’an: al-Baqarah 2:275)
Portia, the judges delivered
her judgement in the case and declared that Shylock was entitled to his pound
of flesh. She invited Shylock to take his pound of flesh nearest to the heart
of the debtor as stipulated in the contract. As the greedy heartless Shylock
moved foreword to cut with his sharp knife, Portia suddenly warned him that
while the contract did entitle him to a pound of fleshy it said nothing about
spilling blood. If Shylock were to spill a single drop of Christian blood then,
as a Jew, all his property would be forfeited by the State of Venice. Portia
also drew to his attention that he was entitled to just one pound of flesh, -
not an ounce more nor less. If Shylock failed to take that exact amount in
weight then the law would require his execution with half of his property
confiscated by the State and half given to the defendant in the case.
Shylock beat a hasty retreat
and decided to accept the repayment of the loan on the terms which had been offered.
Portia would have none of that. That opportunity had been offered and refused.
It was no longer possible to accept that offer.
Shakespeare then placed the
Christian Antonio in the position of one who shows mercy, thus sending a
message to the Jewish world that they should emulate Christian mercy. Antonio
pleaded for Shylock’s life to be spared. He also waived his right to half of
Shylock’s property. But all of this would be on the condition that Shylock
become a Christian (and thus renounce riba) and that his daughter
(who had eloped with a Christian and had converted to Christianity) would
inherit from him. Shylock accepted the conditions.
While Shakespeare could
write such a happy ending for the debtor in Merchant of Venice, life itself is
quite different today. Shylock and the world of Shylocks, in real life today
are in control of the world economy and are constantly carving out their pound
of flesh from the dying carcass of gentile humanity. The supreme Shylocks of
today are the bankers, of whom Jewish bankers take pride of place, the international
Monetary Fund and the World Bank, in which Jewish influence is significant and
the governments of the western world which today control the global economy and
in which Jews wield significant influence.
Now to return to our subject,
the Second stage of the Qur‘anic revelation thus witnessed legislation
prohibiting riba. Allah, the Most High, in His wisdom then chose
to allow a period of seven years to elapse before He directed the Prophet (s)
to promulgate the third and final stage in the process of the eradication of riba.
And during those seven years an effort was made, through moral and spiritual
persuasion, to get creditors to voluntarily give up ‘interest’ due to them and
to thus renounce riba.
to be continued . . . .
