(275–281) “Those who consume usury will not rise except as one driven to madness by Satan’s touch. That is because they say, ‘Trade is just like usury,’ although Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury. Whoever receives an admonition from his Lord and then desists may keep what is past, and his affair rests with Allah. But whoever returns to it—those are the people of the Fire; they will abide therein. * Allah destroys usury and causes charitable gifts to grow. Allah does not love any persistently ungrateful sinner. * Indeed, those who believe, do ⦗117⦘ righteous deeds, establish prayer, and give zakat will have their reward with their Lord. They will have no fear, nor will they grieve. * O you who believe, fear Allah and relinquish whatever remains of usury, if you are believers. * If you do not, then be warned of war from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, your principal sums belong to you: neither wronging nor being wronged. * If the debtor is in hardship, then grant him respite until a time of ease. But to remit it as charity is better for you, if only you knew. * And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be repaid in full for what it earned, and they will not be wronged.”
Allah Most High informs us about those who consume usury, their evil end, and the severity of their fate: they will not rise from their graves on the Day of Resurrection “except as one driven to madness by Satan’s touch”; that is, Satan lays him low through madness. They will rise from their graves bewildered, as though intoxicated, and agitated, expecting terrible punishment and grievous ruin. Just as their minds became deranged and they said, “Trade is just like usury”—something that could come only from someone profoundly ignorant or willfully obtuse and exceedingly obstinate—Allah repaid them with something corresponding to their state, and their condition became that of madmen.
It is also possible that the words, “They will not rise except as one driven to madness by Satan’s touch,” mean that, because their reason was consumed by the pursuit of usurious gains, their judgment became shallow and their opinions weak. Their appearance and movements thus resembled those of madmen in their disorder, while the reason that governs proper conduct had deserted them.
Allah Most High then refutes them and explains His immense wisdom: “Although Allah has permitted trade,” because it serves the public interest, people are in great need of it, and prohibiting it would cause harm. This establishes the fundamental permissibility of every kind of profit-seeking transaction unless evidence establishes its prohibition. “And forbidden usury,” because it entails injustice and evil consequences.
Usury is of two kinds. The first is usury of deferment, such as exchanging a commodity subject to the rules of usury for another that shares the same effective legal cause on a deferred basis. This also includes designating an outstanding debt as the capital of a salam forward sale. The second is usury of excess, which is exchanging a commodity subject to usury for the same kind in unequal amounts. Both are forbidden by the Quran and Sunnah, while consensus specifically establishes the prohibition of usury of deferment. Those who permitted usury of excess adopted an anomalous position and opposed the numerous texts. Indeed, usury is one of the major and ruinous sins.
“Whoever receives an admonition from his Lord”; that is, an exhortation, reminder, and warning against engaging in usury, delivered by someone whom Allah has appointed to admonish him, as a mercy from Allah toward the person being admonished and to establish the proof against him. “And then desists” from committing it and refrains from engaging in it, “may keep what is past”; that is, the transactions he conducted before the admonition reached him are left as they were, as a reward for accepting sincere counsel. The implication of the verse is that anyone who does not desist will be punished for both his earlier and later dealings. “And his affair rests with Allah” regarding his recompense and what lies ahead for him. “But whoever returns” to engaging in usury, having failed to benefit from the admonition and instead persisted in it, “those are the people of the Fire; they will abide therein.”
The scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—differed concerning the texts of warning whose apparent meaning indicates that those guilty of major sins short of associating partners with Allah will remain eternally in the Fire. The soundest position is to say that the deeds to which Allah has attached eternal punishment in the Fire are causes that warrant and entail it. Yet a cause produces its effect only when no impediment prevents it. It is established by the Quran, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the early generations of the Muslim community that monotheism and faith prevent eternal punishment in the Fire. Were it not for the monotheism a person possesses, his deed, considered in itself and apart from his disbelief, would make him liable to abide there forever.
Allah Most High then says, “Allah destroys usury”; that is, He eliminates it and removes its blessing, both in its substance and its qualities. It therefore becomes a cause of calamities befalling the wealth and of its blessing being withdrawn. If any of it is spent, no reward is granted for it; rather, it becomes provisions carrying its owner to the Fire. “And causes charitable gifts to grow”; that is, He increases them, places blessing in the wealth from which they were given, and multiplies the giver’s reward. This is because recompense corresponds to the nature of the deed. The usurer wronged people and took their wealth unlawfully, so he is repaid by the loss of his own wealth. As for one who benefits them through various forms of kindness, his Lord is more generous than he is and bestows good upon him just as he showed kindness to Allah’s servants. “Allah does not love any persistently ungrateful” person who is ungrateful for Allah’s blessings, fails to give the charity Allah has made obligatory upon him, and from whom Allah’s servants are not safe, nor from his evil; “sinner,” meaning one who has committed that which causes him to incur sin and punishment.
After mentioning those who consume usury—and since it is evident that, had they possessed faith that benefited them, such conduct would not have proceeded from them—Allah mentions the condition of the believers and their reward. He addresses them as believers and forbids them to consume usury if they are indeed believers. They are the ones who accept their Lord’s admonition and submit to His command. He commands them to fear Him, and part of fearing Him is that they relinquish whatever usury remains—that is, what remains in their current, outstanding transactions. As for what is past, Allah pardons the past dealings of anyone who heeds the admonition. But anyone who is not deterred by Allah’s admonition and does not accept His counsel is opposing his Lord and waging war against Him. He is helpless and weak, possessing no power to wage war against the Almighty, the All-Wise, who grants the wrongdoer respite but does not neglect him. When He finally seizes him, He seizes him with irresistible might and absolute power.
“But if you repent” of usury, “your principal sums belong to you”; that is, limit yourselves to those alone, “neither wronging” those with whom you dealt by taking the additional sum that constitutes usury, “nor being wronged” through any reduction of your principal sums.
“If the debtor is in hardship” and cannot repay, “then grant him respite until a time of ease.” It is obligatory for the creditor to grant him respite until he finds the means to repay. “But to remit it as charity is better for you, if only you knew,” whether by waiving the entire debt or part of it.
“And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be repaid in full for what it earned, and they will not be wronged.” This verse was among the last passages of the Quran to be revealed, and it was placed as the conclusion to these rulings, commands, and prohibitions because it contains a promise of reward for goodness and a warning against the doing of ⦗118⦘ evil. Knowing that one will return to Allah, who will recompense him for everything small and great, open and concealed, and that Allah will not wrong him by even an atom’s weight, necessarily gives rise within him to hope and fear. Unless this knowledge takes root in the heart, there is no way to attain either.