Accepting Usurious Gain
Allah, the Almighty, says, {O ye who believe! Devour not usury, doubled and multiplied; but fear Allah, that ye may (really) prosper.} (AI-Imran: 130)
The Qur’an also states, “Those who devour usury will not stand except as stands one whom Satan by his touch hath driven to madness; that is because they say, ‘Trade is like usury,’ but Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury.” (AI-Baqarah: 275)
On the Day of Judgement, they will be resurrected from their graves, swerving like he who is seized by Satan owing to what they devoured of usury that grew in their stomachs to such an extent that they would hardly be able to move. Whenever they move, they fall and cannot hasten their steps like all other people.
Qatada said, “On the Day of Judgement, the usurer will be resurrected mad. Thus, all the people in the assembly will be able to identify them easily.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “When I was transported from the Sacred House (of Mecca) to the farthest Mosque (of Jerusalem), I passed by some people whose bellies were protruding forward. Their bellies were as huge as houses, stretching along the way of Pharaoh’s people. On the other hand, the Pharaoh’s people had to be brought in front of the fire in the morning and evening. Like defeated camels, deaf and mad, the people of Pharaoh used to pass by them. Feeling them coming, they attempted to keep aside, but their bellies were so heavy that they could not leave, and they, in turn, were trodden by them. This has recurred in their coming and going every day. That is their lot of torture in the period of the Barrier (AI-Barzakh) up to the Last Day. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked, “Who are they, Gabriel?” He replied, “They are those who devour usury who will not stand except as stands one whom Satan, by his touch, hath driven to madness.” (Reported by Al-Baihiqi in the book of ‘Evidence of Prophethood on the authority of Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri.)
It was related that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “When I was taken up in the Ascent (Mi’raj), I heard thunder and blasts in the seventh heaven. Then, I saw some men whose bellies were as big as houses protruding forward, in which there were serpents and scorpions seen from beneath their bellies. I then asked, ‘Who are they, Gabriel?’ He said, ‘They are those who devour usury.” (Reported by Ibn Majah. It is likely to be classified as weak.
Abdur-Rahman Ibn Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud (radi Allahu anhu) said, “When usury and fornication appear in a community, the people of that community render themselves deserving of the punishment of Allah.” (Reported by Al-Hakim, who said this hadith has a good chain of transmission)
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “Whenever usury appears in a community, there will be madness. Whenever fornication appears in a community, there will be death. Whenever fraud in measure and weight appears in a community, there will be deprivation of rain.” (This hadith has numerous references.)
“The usurer suffers torture from death up to the Day of Judgement by swimming in the Red River, which is like blood, and he is fed while swimmingly stones.” (Reported before.)
The stones represent the unlawful wealth he has collected in the world. He is also fed by stones (it was narrated before) of fire, like what he has swallowed of unlawful wealth in the world. This is his lot of torture in the period of the Barrier before the Day of Judgement, in addition to the curse of Allah.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “Four classes of people will be prevented from entering Paradise, nor will they taste its blessing as Allah decreed: the intoxicant, the usurer, the one who appropriates the orphan’s property without a lawful cause, and the one who was disobedient to his parents if they did not repent all.” (Reported by AI-Hakim, who said this hadith has a good chain of transmission)
It was narrated that the usurers will be resurrected in the form of dogs and pigs, since they contrived to devour usury like the people of Sabath, who contrived to hunt fish by making basins in which the fish were trapped on Saturday and then were collected on Sunday. Therefore, they were turned into monkeys and pigs. Similarly, this will be the abode of those who contrive to devour usury. However, Allah knows all that they contrive. Abu Ayub As-Sakhtiani says. “Behold! They deceive in the same manner when deceiving a child.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Usury has seventy-two doors; the least of them is compatible with committing adultery with one’s mother. The most heinous kind of usury is to transgress by defaming one’s brother.” (Postulated by AI-Haithami in Majma’ Al-Zawa’id)
Anas related, “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) preached to us and expounded the question of usury by saying, ‘One dirham gained by usury is more heinous than thirty-six times of adultery at the sight of Allah.” (Reported by Ibn Abi Dunya)
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Usury is of seventy sins, the least of which is compatible with committing adultery with one’s mother.” (It has been narrated before.)
Abu Bakr (radi Allahu anhu) said, “He who takes the interest and the giver are in the Hellfire alike.”
Ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “When indebting someone, you should not accept his gift since it is usury.” Moreover, AI-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, regarded what you ate in your indebted house as Suht (taking of usury or bribes).
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “When a loan renders an interest, it is subsumed under usury.” (Postulated by Ibn Hajar in 41-Matalib AI-Aliyyah, and he said it has a missing transmission.)
Ibn Mas’ud (radi Allahu anhu) also said, “Whoever intercedes for someone and then is offered a gift, it is considered Suht.”
This is indicated in the following hadith: “Whoever intercedes (for someone) and is then offered a gift, then he approaches a grievous door of usury.” (Reported by Abu Dawud and Ahmad)
We ask Allah’s pardon and soundness in the religion, the world, and the Hereafter.
by Imam Shamsu ed-Deen Dhahabi