And usury was the last thing Allah prohibited. The people of al-Tā’if had embraced Islam, prayed and fought in Allah’s cause, yet Allah made clear that if they did not desist from usury, they would be among those who waged war against Allah and His Messenger.

It is related in the two Sahīh collections that when the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died and some of the Arabs disbelieved, ‘Umar said to Abū Bakr:

“How can you fight the people when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. Once they do so, their lives and property are protected from me, except by right’?”

Abū Bakr replied: “Did he not say, ‘except by right’? By Allah, if they withheld from me an ‘iqāl that they used to render to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, I would fight them over it.”

‘Umar said: “By Allah, as soon as I saw that Allah had opened Abū Bakr’s heart to fighting, I knew that it was right.”

It is also related in the Sahīh that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned the Khawārij and said:

“Any one of you would consider his own prayer insignificant compared with theirs, his fasting compared with theirs, and his recitation compared with theirs. They recite the Quran, but it does not pass beyond their throats. They pass out of Islam as an arrow passes through its quarry. Wherever you encounter them, kill them, for whoever kills them will have a reward with Allah on the Day of Resurrection.”

So if those who stand in prayer at night, fast by day, and recite