₦airaland Forum

Why Ribā Will Never Be Halāl, Even if Everyone Does It

This week, a screenshot went viral showing an online banking platform that charged over 50% of the principal as interest for just six months of borrowing.

Shocking? Yes.
Unjust? Absolutely.
And sadly, this is one of the exact reasons why Islam strictly forbids interest (ribā) because it consumes wealth, traps people in debt, and feeds greed at the expense of others’ hardship.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

"O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of interest, if you should be believers. And if you do not, then be informed of a war from Allah and His Messenger…"
(Surah Al-Baqarah 2:278-279)



The Prophet ﷺ did not only forbid interest, but he cursed everyone involved in it:

"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the one who consumes interest, the one who gives it, the one who records it, and the two witnesses to it, and said: They are all the same."
(Muslim)

As Muslims, we must shun ribā completely whether we are taking it, giving it, recording it, or facilitating it. This applies to banks, private lending, and even informal “small loans” with interest among friends or family.

If you must lend, lend for the sake of Allah, seeking reward from Him, not profit from someone’s desperation. Remember a dirham of ribā is worse than committing zina multiple times, as stated in the Hadith.


Reflection: If that borrower were your own struggling son or daughter, would you still demand interest on top of their hardship? Then why do it to another Muslim?

May Allah purify our earnings, protect us from ribā, and grant us wealth that is halal, blessed, and free from oppression. Āmīn.

Lol ribadu lol. Una dey do camel banking abi? Better go desert

MonshaAllah 🤲 may almighty Allah continue to guide us aright even if other chooses to do wrong thing.

For banks to charge interest? Good
Excess interest charges? Absolutely No

But this banks pay their workers through all the interest accumulated from the money borrowed or lend to consumers

Is "Riba" interest or "Bribe"
Asking to know better the difference.

Auditing the accounts of customers who deal with riba is haram work, because it involves approving of riba, writing it down, and keeping quiet about it and not denouncing it.

exorbitant interest impoverish and enslave the borrowers, it is unfair and sinfully

This is hypocrisy. The technology, roads, trains, groceries and majority of the things you consume or use were built with loans that interest was charged on. How about boycott them all? 🤡

So allah and his messenger will wage war against bank executives who are muslims?
And those muslims who have been bank executives in the past?
Oh, I forgot that their laws are for the common people not the elites.

I don't know if Saudi Arabia is one of Islamic nations in which Quran forbidden to take loans or give out loans.

I wish we all speak up against terrorism, d same way alot of people speak seriously about things that are not serious.
Interest is of interest just as d name implies.
Nobody will force anybody to borrow money.

Dear OP, Assalamualaikum
My questions are;

1.Does this apply to not receiving riba from non Muslim lenders as well or just a Muslim to Muslim stuff as per your last line.

2.Will a Muslim with shares in a secular (non Muslim) bank be deemed to have sinned if he receives dividends from activities of his bank through activities of interest related banking

3.Will a Muslim president (as in the case of Nigeria) be deemed to have sinned for receiving or giving interest incurring loans on behave of his country

May we have a peaceful Jumat across Nigeria today and may the Almighty Allah Subahana Wata Allah accept our Solat.

Fair Point!
Thank you Seun for allowing non muslims to comment on Muslims thread. we should learn to tolerate each other beliefs

So now people can comment on Muslim thread without having to swear an oath. Good

Lukgaf:
Why Ribā Will Never Be Halāl, Even if Everyone Does It

what is the ruling on borrow money to do business i.e

using the money to buy goods , and the paying interest from the profit of the goods and keeping the rest

MMempire:
Is "Riba" interest or "Bribe"
Asking to know better the difference.

It is interest according to the original language but because it is seen as robbing Peter to pay Paul, some Nigerians extended the term to bribery. If I don't give you X, you won't help me with Y.

Interest in the West, if you ask anyone who has lived there is brutal. Interest is forbidden in the Abrahamic religions, whether it is Islam, Christianity or Judaism.

Olamideayomide:
For banks to charge interest? Good
Excess interest charges? Absolutely No

But this banks pay their workers through all the interest accumulated from the money borrowed or lend to consumers

No doubt about that, That is the system, Where did they expect to get paid from

Absolute joke. Your Arab brothers who owns stores in Europe are tearing us apart with their inflated prices of goods. Make una rest for joke

What about Muslims who work in regular commercial banks? They collect salaries and allowances from incomes made from interest charges on loans

What is the best option of such Muslims, should they resign or what?

"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the one who consumes interest, the one who gives it, the one who records it, and the two witnesses to it, and said: They are all the same."
Going by this, then I guess a Muslim shouldn't work in a commercial bank

The interest was not forced on the borrower. He accepted the terms willingly, so therefore, I see no injustice. It is not an evil thing to receive a reward for being good.

Interest is the lender's reward for helping the borrower.

kingsways:
What about Muslims who work in regular commercial banks? They collect salaries and allowances from incomes made from interest charges on loans

What is the best option of such Muslims, should they resign or what?

I just edited my previous comment. Interest is forbidden in Abrahamic religions, even if most of the followers havr abandoned it. There are Muslims and Christians who own banks charging ridiculous interest on money they lend. You may need to understand some history to understand why we are where we are today and what happened to the banking and economies:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqe3IQQo_t4

This is AI on interest. We all know Jews control the banking system. If you read history, you will find out what happened to the Jews that made them ruthless with banking. What people do with their morality vs reality is left to them and their moral compass.

Yes, interest—also called usury in older terminology—is heavily restricted or outright forbidden in all three major Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. However, the interpretation and application of these prohibitions have varied over time and between traditions.


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1. Judaism

Torah Prohibition: Charging interest on loans to fellow Jews is prohibited in the Torah:

> "If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest."
(Exodus 22:25)



Exceptions: Interest could be charged to non-Jews (Deuteronomy 23:20), and in later Jewish legal tradition, mechanisms such as the heter iska were developed to allow profit-sharing arrangements that mimicked loans without violating the prohibition.



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2. Christianity

Biblical Roots: Early Christian teachings inherited Jewish views and reinforced them:

> "If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?"
(Luke 6:34–35)



Church Teaching: The early Church fathers condemned all forms of interest. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church strictly forbade usury.

Evolution: Over time, especially during the Renaissance and Reformation, Christian attitudes relaxed. By the modern era, charging reasonable interest was generally accepted, especially in business contexts.



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3. Islam

Qur'anic Prohibition: The Qur’an strongly forbids riba, often interpreted as any form of interest:

> "Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity..."
(Qur'an 2:275)



Moral and Social Rationale: Riba is seen as exploitative and unjust. Islam emphasizes fairness and mutual benefit in economic transactions.

Modern Practice: Islamic finance has developed alternative structures (like Murabaha, Mudarabah, Ijara) that avoid traditional interest but still allow investment and profit-making.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WluWYyN3h4c?si=7RUbjEP6Zargh7wZ


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgHyi5poINU

The scripture, old and new testament is very clear that interest should be prohibited particularly those you count as fellow countrymen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EarPtYppAY8?si=ptSajeNqtymvCO-m

Sorry OP for diverting, I know it's a Muslim thread. Just putting this out there replying to the comment on the topic.

This is a topic that needs more light to be thrown on.

Lukgaf:
If you must lend, lend for the sake of Allah, seeking reward from Him, not profit from someone’s desperation.

So the assumption is that anyone taking a loan is in desperation? Not a sensible assumption.