Riba means excess, increase or addition

Riba in finance implies any excess compensation without due consideration

Riba in the Holy Qur'an

  • Those who take ribā (usury or interest) will not stand but as stands the one whom the demon has driven crazy by his touch. That is because they have said: “Sale is but like ribā.’’, while Allah has permitted sale, and prohibited ribā. So, whoever receives an advice from his Lord and desists (from indulging in ribā), then what has passed is allowed for him, and his matter is up to Allah. As for the ones who revert back, those are the people of Fire. There they will remain forever.
    – Surah Al Baqarah 2:275

  • Allah destroys ribā and nourishes charities, and Allah does not like any sinful disbeliever.
    – Surah Al Baqarah 2:276

  • O you who believe, fear Allah and give up what still remains of ribā, if you are believers.
    – Surah Al Baqarah 2:278

  • But if you do not (give it up), then listen to the declaration of war from Allah and His Messenger. However, If you repent, yours is your principal. Neither wrong, nor be wronged.
    – Surah Al Baqarah 2:279

  • O you who believe, do not eat up the amounts acquired through Ribā (interest), doubled and multiplied. Fear Allah, so that you may be successful,
    – Surah Ali’ Imran 3:130
  • and for their charging Ribā (usury or interest) while they were forbidden from it, and for their devouring of the properties of the people by false means. We have prepared, for the disbelievers among them, a painful punishment.
    – Surah An Nisa 4:161
  • Whatever Ribā (increased amount) you give, so that it may increase in the wealth of the people, it does not increase with Allah; and whatever Zakāh you give, seeking Allah’s pleasure with it, (it is multiplied by Allah, and) it is such people who multiply (their wealth in real terms.)
    – Surah Ar Rum 30:39

Riba in Hadith

The Prophet ﷺ reinforced the prohibition of riba in numerous hadiths. These hadiths not only reiterate the Quranic prohibition but also provide further details and insights into the severity of this sin:

  • Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah has cursed the one who consumes riba, the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and the two who witness it, and he said: they are all the same.” (Muslim)
  • Abdullah ibn Hanzalah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “A dirham of riba which a man receives knowingly is worse than committing adultery thirty-six times.” (Mishkat al-Masabih)
  • Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “On the night of Ascension, I came upon people whose stomachs were like houses with snakes visible from the outside. I asked Gabriel who they were. He replied that they were people who had received interest.” (Ibn Majah)
  • Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “There will come a time when there will be no one left who does not consume usury (interest), and whoever does not consume it will nevertheless be affected by it.” (Sunan Abu Dawud)
  • The Prophet ﷺ also said that there are seventy-two types of riba, the least of which is equivalent to a man committing adultery with his own mother.

Prohibition of Interest in Other Religions

Some of the old testaments have rendered riba as haraam. See:

  • Exodus 22:25,
  • Leviticus 25:35-36,
  • Deutronomy 23:20,
  • Psalms 15:5,
  • Proverbs 28:8,
  • Nehemiah 5:7 and
  • Ezakhiel 18:8,13,17 & 22:12

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