The Verses Of Riba: Riba Revisited, #10

By Nizar Abdulrahman Alshubaily

What are the verses of Riba mentioned in The Qur'an?

How were they understood by the people of that time?

To which type of Riba do they refer?

What modern myths are there about Riba that these verses clarify?

Why did the people at the time liken a sale to Riba?

How do we know that Riba is any contracted increase above the principal in lending?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nizar Abdulrahman Alshubaily
• Release date: Feb 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215905982

Book preview

In

Memory

Of

My

Parents

Also By The Author

Riba Revisited Series:

Riba In Mubadalah

Riba In Jewelry

Riba Complexity

Riba In Contracts

The Book Of Quotes

The Names Of Riba

The Hadith Of Riba

The Hadith Of Riba

Myths Of Riba

Essays In Islamic Finance Series:

Essays In Islamic Finance I

Essays In Islamic Finance II

Essays In Islamic Finance III

The Verses Of Riba

Volume X

Riba Revisited Series

Copyright © Nizar Abdulrahman Alshubaily, 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright holder, except for reference and citation, with proper acknowledgment.

Cover Page: Photo of Manuscript of Sahih Al-Bukhari courtesy of Alukah.net

EBOOK ISBN: 9798215905982

The Verses Of Riba

Nizar Abdulrahman Alshubaily

An Explanation Of The Verses

Of Riba In The Qur’an

Volume X

Riba Revisited Series

2023

Introduction

The verses of Riba are not many.

Riba was mentioned eight times in The Qur’an; five times in Surat Al-Baqarah, once in Surat Al-Nisaa’, once in Surat Al-Imran, and once in Surat Al-Rum. One of them however was not the forbidden Riba.

Nor are they seemingly that complicated.

It is therefore always a surprise that some still argue about their meaning and how they relate to our modern financial system.

It is also worrying that some also argue as to what these verses actually prohibit, especially when this prohibition has consensus and is explained in detail in numerous books of Fiqh and Tafsir.

Some argue that the word principal mentioned in verse 279 of Surat Al-Baqarah does not mean the amount that was leant and thus one can transact in Riba from the beginning of the contract, but cannot receive more Riba when the debt repayment is delayed.

Some argue that the word sale mentioned in verse 275 of Surat Al-Baqarah does not mean what we view as a sale of goods, but it means commerce from a trading point of view where someone takes market risk, and thus they exclude Deferred Payment Sales from the meaning. This relates specifically to the modern Islamic financial transactions being practiced today by Islamic Financial Institutions.

Some also mistake the meaning of certain verses as limiting the forbidden Riba to multiples, whereas in fact any amount over the principal is Riba.

Many also, are uncertain as to why the people of the time of The Revelations claimed that {A Sale is Like Riba}. How, they say, is a sale similar to Riba?

It is the meanings of these verses that we explain in this book.

I start with a chapter on the Riba of Al-Jahiliyyah as practiced, and one that I have included before in previous books. I hope this would lead to a better understanding.

Nizar Abdulrahman Alshubaily

February 2023

Chapter One

Riba In Al-Jahiliyyah

What was Riba like in Al-Jahiliyyah? Was it respected? Was it only one type? We shall see briefly in this chapter.

"O Quraish, do not enter into its (Ka’bah) construction from your gains except that which is good,

No prostitution money,

No Riba sale,

And No money from injustice to people." (1)

This was a saying attributed to either to AbuWahb Bin Makhzoum, or Al-Walid Bin Al-Mughirah during Al-Jahiliyyah.

Whilst Riba was practiced freely during Al-Jahiliyyah, meaning before the prohibition, it did not have a good reputation even then.

We know from stories that it was held in disrepute. For example in Seerat Ibn Hisham, a famous book of the life of The Prophet (PEACE BE UPON HIM) by Ibn Hisham (Died Hijri 218), we read a story related to the reconstruction of the Ka’bah in Al-Jahiliyyah and at which time funds were needed for the building, and the above call was made.

And in Tafsir Ibn Kathir, we read further information relating to this incident.

Five years before the Revelations, The Ka’bah was damaged by a flood; and being already weak from an earlier fire, was in danger of collapsing.

A fortunate incident where a Roman ship in the port of Jeddah had been damaged and its wood was available for sale.

The tribe of Quraysh decided to rebuild The Ka’bah, but decided not to taint the reconstruction with any illegitimate gains, such as money from prostitution, Riba, or other injustices.

This rule led to a shortage of funding and thus The Ka’bah was not built whole, which left