need rather than necessity, whereas the established principle is that what is prohibited becomes permissible only in cases of necessity, for Allah says: “He has already explained to you what He has forbidden to you, excepting that to which you are compelled by necessity.” [al-Anʿām 6:119] This is certainly a sound objection.

The answer is that it may be answered by the well-known principle among the scholars: “Whatever is prohibited as a means becomes permissible when there is a need.” For prohibitions are of two types: those prohibited for their own sake and as an ultimate end, and those prohibited as a means to something else.

Is ribā al-faḍl prohibited as an end in itself or as a means?

The answer is that the scholars say: Its prohibition is that of a means. They cite as evidence the Prophet’s statement in the hadith of Usāmah ibn Zayd: “Ribā is only in deferred payment.” (1) This statement is restrictive, as though he had said: There is no ribā except in deferred payment. Thus, what is meant here is the ribā that is prohibited as an end in itself. As for ribā prohibited as a means, it exists where there is disparity in quantity when a ribā commodity is exchanged for another of the same type.

Another example: Silk is forbidden to men, yet a person may wear it if he has an itch caused by an inflammation in his body, in order to ease that itch. Although this is not a necessity, it is permitted because the basic reason silk is forbidden to men is that it is unfitting for them, and because it is a means by which a man—whom Allah has distinguished through manhood—may become like a woman, who is brought up amid adornment. This is why gold and silk have been forbidden to men.