Investigating Riba and its rulings and effects in prophetic teachings

Riba in Islam has clear rulings and all sects in Islam are agreed on its prohibition. The main issue occurs when defining Riba as interest. A key point that should be noted is that Riba is not exactly same as interest when translated into English, rather it is a special type of it. Whereas interest in various cases is either profit or capital gain and, in such instances, it is not prohibited in Islam. On the other hand, for instance interest related to loan or mortgage is an example of Riba. This has caused many researchers to take the wrong direction while explaining the nature of Riba and have tried to say that all types of interests in conventional banking are not part of the prohibited interest and it is not Riba. Therefore, in the beginning of this research, we explained the historical and Qur’anic perspective of Riba and after that we discussed Riba in the prophetic teachings by explaining its effects on the society and economy. The main grounds of getting involved in Riba are also explained. At the end, the ways to fight with Riba according to the prophetic teachings is described. The research method used in this study was analytical and descriptive by relying on the Qur’anic verses and its reason of revelation and the narrations of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h). To have a clearer picture of the nature of Riba we also used some of the narrations of the holy progeny of the Prophet (peace be upon them) since they are the means of prophetic teachings after the Prophet (p.b.u.h). The Qur’anic verses and narrations have clearly said that Riba is a direct fight with the God, and it is necessary to avoid it. The study showed that the main issue occurred when the Islamic governments tried to legitimate the conventional banking system within the Islamic territory and used usury as Riba and the interest as profit.

کلیدواژه ها:

Riba ، Interest ، Profit ، Loan ، Interest rate ، Islamic Banking ، Banking ، Borrowing