grant us well-being—when a debt matured against a poor man they would tell him, “Either you settle the amount or you increase it.” “Settle it” meant: pay us what you owe; “increase it” meant: allow us to add more to the principal until the sum swells into many times its original size.

During the Farewell Pilgrimage the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, announced as judge and legislator: “All usury from the Age of Ignorance is laid down beneath these two feet of mine.” In other words, it is trampled underfoot and has no standing whatsoever. He then declared, “The very first usury I annul is the usury owed to al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.”

Allah is Most Great! What candour and what unwavering justice in enforcing the laws of Allah. “The first usury I annul is that of al-‘Abbas”—and al-‘Abbas was the Prophet’s own uncle. Had the Prophet ﷺ been a man of worldly inclination, he would have concealed the fact that his uncle dealt in usury and would have left that interest intact. But the Messenger ﷺ, the pinnacle of creation in matters of justice, proclaimed, “The first usury I annul is the usury of al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.” All of it is abolished; no one who owed that interest may pay it. It is void as though it never existed—al-‘Abbas is entitled only to his original capital.

This is similar to what the Prophet ﷺ said when people came to intercede on behalf of a woman from Banū Makhzūm who used to borrow household goods—pots, bedding, and the like—and then deny having taken them. After receiving the items she would disclaim them, so the Prophet ordered that her hand be cut off, for she was a thief. The affair greatly troubled Quraysh; after all, she belonged to Banū Makhzūm, one of the most prominent clans of Quraysh.