Lesson 3 of 6 · What rizq actually means, and what those verses do not promise

Riba, and the line this course does not cross

The prohibition on riba is serious and the report below is stark about it. It is in the text and this course is not going to pretend otherwise.

Here is what this platform will not do with it. It will not tell you whether your mortgage, your student loan, your overdraft, your credit card or a deferred payment arrangement falls under it. Which modern instruments do and do not is a large, live and genuinely contested field among qualified scholars, and it is not a question a course can answer for your situation.

There is a real pastoral point here too. Somebody sitting on an overdraft they cannot currently escape does not need this report fired at them in the middle of a crisis. Knowing the ruling is good. Being frightened out of dealing with the problem is not, and it is the avoidance in lesson five that does the actual damage.

So the honest instruction is a boring one. Ask a scholar you trust, once, about your actual situation, and take their answer. And note the other half of the same passage, which almost nobody quotes at anybody: if the debtor is in hardship, there must be postponement until ease.

The same applies to bankruptcy and formal insolvency arrangements. A great many Muslims assume those are impermissible and therefore never use remedies that exist for exactly their situation. Whether a given remedy is permitted is a scholar's question. Ask it rather than assuming the answer.

Qur’an and Sunnah

Where the riba passage opens, shown because it is usually quoted only as far as the prohibition. The report beside it is stark about that prohibition and nothing here softens it.

ٱلَّذِينَ يَأۡكُلُونَ ٱلرِّبَوٰاْ لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُ ٱلَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ مِنَ ٱلۡمَسِّۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمۡ قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡبَيۡعُ مِثۡلُ ٱلرِّبَوٰاْۗ وَأَحَلَّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡبَيۡعَ وَحَرَّمَ ٱلرِّبَوٰاْۚ فَمَن جَآءَهُۥ مَوۡعِظَةࣱ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦ فَٱنتَهَىٰ فَلَهُۥ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمۡرُهُۥٓ إِلَى ٱللَّهِۖ وَمَنۡ عَادَ فَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ أَصۡحَٰبُ ٱلنَّارِۖ هُمۡ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ

But those who take usury will rise up on the Day of Resurrection like someone tormented by Satan’s touch. That is because they say, ‘Trade and usury are the same,’

Qur’an 2:275

The instruction inside that passage: give up what remains of usury. It is here so you can see the whole passage rather than the half that gets sent to somebody in the middle of a crisis.

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَذَرُواْ مَا بَقِيَ مِنَ ٱلرِّبَوٰٓاْ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤۡمِنِينَ

You who believe, beware of God: give up any outstanding dues from usury, if you are true believers

Qur’an 2:278

And the warning attached to that instruction. The three verses are shown together because of what comes immediately after them, which is the half almost nobody quotes.

فَإِن لَّمۡ تَفۡعَلُواْ فَأۡذَنُواْ بِحَرۡبࣲ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦۖ وَإِن تُبۡتُمۡ فَلَكُمۡ رُءُوسُ أَمۡوَٰلِكُمۡ لَا تَظۡلِمُونَ وَلَا تُظۡلَمُونَ

If you do not, then be warned of war from God and His Messenger. You shall have your capital if you repent, and without suffering loss or causing others to suffer loss

Qur’an 2:279

If the debtor is in hardship, there must be postponement until ease. This is the other half of the same riba passage and almost nobody quotes it at anybody, though it is the half addressed to the person you owe.

وَإِن كَانَ ذُو عُسۡرَةࣲ فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيۡسَرَةࣲۚ وَأَن تَصَدَّقُواْ خَيۡرࣱ لَّكُمۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ

If the debtor is in difficulty, then delay things until matters become easier for him; still, if you were to write it off as an act of charity, that would be better for you, if only you knew

Qur’an 2:280

The prohibition is serious, this report is stark about it, and it is in the text and will not be pretended away. What will not be done here is telling you whether a particular modern arrangement falls under it. That is a live question among qualified scholars, and one to put to a scholar you trust, once, about your actual situation.

Jabir said that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the two witnesses, and he said:They are all equal

Sahih Muslim 1598graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading

Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.