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They Insist That Business
is Like Ar-Riba
By Mohammad
Shafi J. Aga, Bombay, India
In the Name of Allah,
the Gracious, the Merciful
"And Allah has permitted
business (bai'a) and prohibited Ar-Riba,"
The Qur'an says in
continuation of the captioned quote from verse Q: 2.275.
The subject caption above
is a quote from the Qur'aan - part of 275th verse in Chapter 2 thereof
[Q: 2.275].
I do not have before me now
any historical evidence of people living at the time of revelation of
the Qur'aan saying so, but I know of people in my own age - some of the
religious leaders of my own Faith- saying so. They say that the banking
business is Ar-Riba. In fact, they have gone even beyond the
Qur'anic quote. They do not say that this business is like Ar-Riba.
They say it is Ar-Riba.
By business, of course, what
they mean here is the earnings that it generates. Since a bank invests a
substantial portion of the money it holds in debt instruments - in
giving loans for trade and industry etc. - the interest accrued on such
loans constitutes a major source of its earnings.
Most of the money that a bank
gets as interest goes in meeting bona fide expenses like salaries to
staff, office rentals and equipment, interests paid to depositors etc.
The rest of it is the net earning of the bank. The open market forces
oblige the bank to keep its net earning/profit margin as low as
possible.
Banking Is a Legitimate
Business
Banking is thus a legitimate
business as any other. Whereas other businesses provide materials and
services conveniently to their customers, banking business provides
purchasing power (money). Banking business thus fulfils a legitimate
necessity in human society.
The religious leaders deride
this legitimate business as unlawful because part of its profit comes
from interest. And, in their view, Ar-Riba that the Qur'aan
prohibits, is interest, and nothing but interest.
There is no Qur'aanic basis
for this interpretation of the religious leaders. The Arabic word
Riba literally means increase/gain/growth. So all kinds of increases
ought to be covered by this general term.
I can effect an increase in
my wealth by evading Government taxes. I can effect the increase by
paying my employees less than what they actually deserve to get. I can
effect the increase by shirking the work given to me by my employer and
attending to my own private work during the employer's office hours. I
can effect the increase by unduly hiking my profit margins on the goods
I sell, by economic exploitation of my hapless customers.
There are umpteen numbers of
other dubious ways in which I can effect increases in my wealth. But the
religious leaders insist that the increase, effected by taking interest
only, is prohibited as Ar-Riba. And they give no Qur'aanic basis
for this interpretation.
A careful study of the very
first verse [Q: 30.39], as also the subsequent ones, revealed in the
matter of Ar-Riba, would show otherwise. It would show that the
increases effected by the dubious means such as the ones mentioned in
the paragraph preceding the last one above, rather than interest as
such, that are all covered in the Qur'anic Concept of Ar-Riba.
Allah Has Permitted
Business
When one effects an increase
in one's wealth by adopting any of these dubious means, one perpetrates
an injustice on someone else. Allah condemns and abhors every kind of
injustice. By prohibiting Ar-Riba, He has prohibited all economic
injustices.
"And Allah has permitted
business (bai'a) and prohibited Ar-Riba," the Qur'aan says in
continuation of the captioned quote from verse Q: 2.275.
Despite the divine permission
thus given to business, the religious leaders insist that the
interest-based banking business is a prohibited one. Look what the
Qur'an says in this context:
"Those who devour Ar-Riba
stand not but as one on whom has the Satan cast his spell by touch. That
is because they insist that the business is like Ar-Riba!"
This, in fact, is the
beginning part, which includes the captioned quote, of the same said
verse Q: 2.275.
Indeed! Persons influenced by
Satan only could call a divinely permitted thing prohibited. Under this
satanic influence, we, Muslims substitute the divine concept of
Ar-Riba with its man-made interpretation as interest and nothing
but interest. The Satan must be congratulating himself immensely! For,
by this masterstroke, he is not only impoverishing the Muslims, his
arch-enemies, economically, but has also succeeded in keeping them
blissfully unaware of the real Ar-Riba growing - and growing
luxuriantly - in their own backyards.
Yes Brothers and Sisters, the
unpalatable and bitter truth is that we Muslims are ourselves steeply
involved in Ar-Riba dealings - more so than the people living in
some of the well-developed countries are. Because, Ar-Riba is
corruption. It is, in the Qur'anic concept, the unjust usurpation of
others' dues in transactional dealings. It is economic injustice. A
sincere and diligent study of the Qur'aanic verses on Ar-Riba, I
am sure, will reveal this fact to you.
Study the relevant verses,
therefore, please and save yourself from Hell fire! For, the said verse,
Q: 2.275, ends as follows,
"And the ones who persist
(in Ar-Riba dealings) shall be those who would inhabit the Fire, therein
to abide!"
Mohammad Shafi J. Aga
Author of The Qur'aanic Concept Of Ar-Riba
mailto:mjaga@vsnl.com |