DR. M. Umar Chapra

"ISLAM MONETARY SYSTEM"

(Original book in 1985, the publisher of The Islamic Foundation, UK)
(Jakarta, Gema Insani, 2000, Translation: Brotherhood Abidin Basri)
 

Prohibition of riba appears in the Quran on the revelation that four times the decline vary. The first (ar-Rum: 39), revealed at Mecca, confirmed that the flowers will take away God's blessings in wealth, while the charity will increase exponentially. The second (an-Nisaa ': 161), derived during the period beginning Medina, strongly condemned the practice of usury, in tune with its ban on the books earlier. In this second stage, the Qur'an aligning people who take usury with those who took the wealth of others is not right and threatening both sides with a very grievous chastisement of God. The third revelation (Ali Imran: 130-132), was lowered at about second or third year Hijrah, calling for Muslims to stay away from riba Kuum juka desired prosperity they so wish (within the meaning of true Islam). The fourth revelation (al-Baqoroh :275-281), lowered toward the completion of the mission of the Prophet, condemned those who took riba, which confirmed the clear between trade and usury, and the demands of the Muslims in order to eliminate all debts that contain usury, calling on them to take the basic course, and mengikhlaskan to borrowers who are having trouble.
Prophet Muhammad also condemned, using words that are very bright, not just those who took usury, but also those who give usury and writers who record the transactions or the witnesses. In fact, he likens the sins of people who took the sin of usury by those who commit adultery 36-fold, equivalent to the menzinahi his own mother.

Argument that interest is prohibited because at the time of the Prophet Muhammad only consumption loans and the interest is included in the loan thus causing trouble, is not true and contrary to the facts. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad Muslim society was familiar with the simple lifestyle and conspicuous consumption is not practice. Therefore, there is no reason to borrow funds for purposes of self-display or for consumption purposes is not important. A great scholar, Shaykh Abu Zahra, appropriately asserts:
"Absolutely no evidence to support the notion that usury jahiliyyah is for consumer loans and not productive. Actually, this type of loan that was discovered by the scholars and supported by historical data is productive loans. Circumstances of the Arabs, the position of Mecca, and trade the Quraish, all support the opinion that the loan was for purposes of production and not consumption. "