Most Read in the Category of Those Who Devour Usury

1- Those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger

They waged wage war against Allah and His Messenger… For them is the curse of Allah… The bounty in their sustenance is removed… They will not stand except as stands one whom the Evil One by his touch has driven to madness… They will be thrown into Hell… Their abdomens are as big as houses and there are snakes in them… They are held in a bloody river. When they want to come out, stones are thrown at them and they have to go back to the middle of the river… Who are they?

Those who devour usury

Yes, the verses of the Quran and hadiths describe those who devour usury as it is mentioned above and their punishment is also stated as it is mentioned above. The reason why we have prepared this work is to explain what a big sin usury is through verses and hadiths and to prevent Muslims from committing this sin.  

For, man sometimes commits a sin without knowing the punishment and the bigness of that sin, by depreciating it. In fact, to depreciate and underestimate a sin is unbelief but unfortunately the Muslims living at this age depreciate sins and plunge into sins recklessly. One of those sins is usury and interest. Unfortunately, usury (interest) has surrounded even some of the believers who perform daily prayers; some believers devour usury; some borrow loans from banks called credit and they are unaware of the bigness of this sin and its punishment.   

In this work, we will express the bigness of the sin of usury and mention its worldly and otherworldly penalties. We hope that this work will be a means of repenting for those who devour usury and that they will never commit it again. It is Allah who gives help and success. 

Now, we will list the verses and hadiths related to usury and want those who devour usury to read them. May Allah make us receive our shares from them!

USURY

“O ye who believe! fear Allah and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if ye are indeed believers. If ye do it not, take notice of war from Allah and His Messenger.” (al-Baqara 278-279)

It is necessary to pay attention to this verse. The phrase "waging war against Allah and His Messenger" is not used for any other sins in the Quran. It is used only for those who devour usury. This will be enough to explain what a big sin usury is in the eye of Allah. O he who devours usury! Are you aware of what kind of war you are in due to usury? You have raged war against Allah and His Messenger by devouring usury. Can a person who fights Allah be victorious? How can a person who wages a war against the Messenger of Allah ask his intercession? 

Ibni Abbas states the following about the verse we have just interpreted: The person who devours usury will be addressed as follows on the Day of Judgment: “Take your weapon to fight.” The following verse proves it: “If ye do it not, - that is, if you do not abandon usury -  take notice of war from Allah and His Messenger.” O he who devours or gives usury! What worldly property will save you when you will be addressed, “Take your weapon to fight”? Do you have the power to fight against Allah? Can you imagine the regret you will feel on that day? Repent today before you regret on that day and pay the rights of the people you have violated due to usury.

3- The verses about usury (interest)

The following is stated in verses 275 and 276 of the chapter of al-Baqara:

Those who devour usury will not stand except as stands one whom the Evil One by his touch hath driven to madness. That is because they say: "Trade is like usury, but Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury. Those who after receiving direction from their Lord, desist, shall be pardoned for the past; their case is for Allah (to judge); but those who repeat (the offence) are companions of the Fire: they will abide therein (for ever). Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity: for He loveth not creatures ungrateful and wicked.

We will focus on the following points regarding the verses above:

1- First Point: Those who devour usury will come out of their graves like those who were struck and driven mad by Satan. This is a punishment given to those who devour usury. The following is stated in a hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) reported by Awf Ibn Malik: "Beware the sins that are not forgiven… One of them is to devour usury. A person who devours usury will appear as stricken and mad on the Day of Judgment." Then, the Prophet (pbuh) recited the verse we are interpreting: "Those who devour usury will not stand except as stands one whom the Evil One by his touch hath driven to madness." (Tabarani)

O he who devours usury! Do you want to come out of your grave like a person whom Satan has struck and driven mad in return for the property of the world, which is very short-lived. Let alone the few worldly possessions you are trying to earn, do you think the whole world is worth it? How many more days will you live in this world?  Even if you owned the whole world, would they not tell you to leave the world when you die? Will you not leave the world and the possessions that you like very much soon? Yes, you will leave the wealth you have obtained from usury and interest but you will carry its sin yourself. 

The second point we will focus on the verses we have mentioned is the following sentence uttered by those who devour usury: “Trade is like usury.” That is, they regard usury and trade as equal. Those who devour usury in this age also say the same thing: We buy and sell. We sell money in return for money. It is not any different from other business and trade…”

In return for their word, Allah states the following in the verse: “Allah hath permitted trade and forbidden usury.”

O Muslim who deals with usury! Will you still say trade is like usury after this word of Allah? Know it very well that usury is not like trade. For, Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury. Is Allah's prohibition not enough for you to avoid something?

The third point we will focus on the verses we have mentioned is the part “but those who repeat (the offence) are companions of the Fire: they will abide therein (for ever).” O he who plunges in usury bravely! Do you not see that your Lord has described the place where those who devour usury will go as Hell and that they will stay there forever? Does this news not make you fear? You do not even receive your share from the threat of your Lord; what happened to your heart? Do you think going to Hell and staying there forever is something easy? If you think it is easy, we advise to watch our video we prepared about Hell. You will see that Hell is not such an easy place to enter.  

The fourth point we will focus on the verses we have mentioned is "Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity." The word mahq in Arabic means to decrease something gradually and to eliminate its abundance. The elimination of the abundance of usury will take place either in the world or the hereafter. As for its elimination in the world, it is described by the Prophet (pbuh) as follows: “Even if usury seems to be a lot, it will decrease in the end.” Therefore, those who devour usury become miserable in the end and die in a terrible state.  

As for its elimination in the hereafter, Ibn Abbas states the following regarding the issue: “Allah does not accept the sadaqah, jihad, hajj or visiting relatives of the person who devours usury.” (Tafsir of Hazin)

O he who deals with usury! Know it very well that the usury you receive will be eliminated. That is, the abundance of your property will disappear and you will lose what you have. However, the real destruction is in the hereafter. Your good deeds you did in the world will be thrown at your face due to usury and you will regret so much that it is impossible to imagine. Come to your sense and repent today; give up all kinds of transactions with usury and interest today.

5- Those who wait in the river of blood

Samura Ibn Jandab states the following in hadith included in Bukhari: The Prophet said, "This night I dreamt that two men came and took me to a Holy land where we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood, where a man was standing, and on its bank was standing another man with stones in his hands. The man in the middle of the river tried to come out, but the other threw a stone in his mouth and forced him to go back to his original place. So, whenever he tried to come out, the other man would throw a stone in his mouth and force him to go back to his former place. I asked, 'Who is this?' I was told, 'The person in the river was a riba (interest, usury) eater.” It should not be forgotten that dreams of the Prophet are true and what is shown to him in his dream is true and revelation. Our Prophet (pbuh) would not tell a dream that was untrue just for the sake of conversation.  

Let us analyze the hadith now: There is a river of blood and a man standing in it; what he wants is to come out of this river and to be saved. Whenever he approaches the bank, somebody on the bank throws a stone in his mouth and he turns back. This incident is repeated whenever he wants to come out of the river. What is the crime of the person who is forced to stay in the river? To eat usury!

O he who eats usury! I am asking you now. Can you stand this torture? Can you stand staying in a river of blood while the people of Paradise swim in the rivers of Paradise? Definitely not! Since you cannot stand it, why do you keep committing the sin that will keep you in the river? Or, do you think you will not die and you will not be accounted? Or, do you doubt the words of the Prophet? If you are in doubt, know it very well that he will not say anything other than what is revealed to him. Whatever he says is true. Repent of the sin of usury and give up this sin. We hope Allah will forgive you and you will swim in the pools of Paradise instead of the river of blood.

6- Those who touch the dust of usury

In a hadith reported in Nasai, Abu Hurayra said, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:  A time will come over mankind when not a single person will remain who does not consume riba (usury, interest); and if one does not consume it, the vapor or dust of it will reach him.

The time when people will consume usury and the dust of usury will reach those who do not consume usury that the Prophet mentions is probably this age. The people of this age call usury credit and give and take usury easily. This major sin has surrounded even some believers who perform daily prayers and some people who try to live as people of taqwa. Many people apply to banks in order to expand their business and give and take usury under the name of credit.

As for those who do not eat usury, the dust of usury reaches them. That is, the bakery that produces the bread they eat uses bank credit, or the company that produces the clothes they wear borrows a bank loan, or the builder that builds the houses they live in uses usury, or the builder sells the house he builds to a person who uses usury. Tens of transactions like these take place between those who devour usury and who produce their goods by the loans they borrow from the bank. Even if a person does not give or take usury, he swallows the dust of usury.

7- Their bellies are like houses and there are snakes inside

In a hadith reported in Ibn Majah, Abu Hurayra related that the Prophet (pbuh) said: On the night of the Miraj (Ascension), I came upon a group of people whose bellies were like houses. They were full of snakes which could be seen from outside their bellies. I asked Gabriel (Jibril), "Who are they?" He said, "They are the people who ate up riba (interest, usury).

My Allah! Have you heard the punishment of those who devour usury in the hereafter? Allah Almighty enlarges their bellies like houses and puts snakes in them. The snakes are seen from the outside. O my Allah! What a punishment it is! We take refuge in you from the sin of usury, which cause people to be tortured like that.

O he who takes and gives usury recklessly! Have you heard the news given by your Prophet, whom you believe in? If you do not repent and do not abandon usury, your belly will be enlarged like a house on the Gathering Day and snakes will move in it. You cannot stand even the bite of a mosquito; how will you stand snakes biting your stomach?  Will you show consent to this torture for the sake of the material interests of this short world life? Is it not better for you to say, "O Lord! I was unaware of this torture and that devouring usury was such a big sin. I know that my ignorance cannot be an excuse. For, I should have read and found out about them since I am a Muslim. However, I committed those sins. What can I do now? Who else except you can I ask for forgiveness? Who else except you can I apply? There is no Lord except you; who can I ask for forgiveness?  O Lord! I escaped form you like a slave who escaped from his master and wandered in the valleys of sin. However, I have come to my senses now. I ask for forgiveness from you for all of my sins, especially the sin of usury and promise that I will never commit them again. Please forgive me. You are the forgiver and you love forgiving…”

Is it not the best thing to do to beg Allah and ask for forgiveness? Or, will you keep committing the sin of usury though you have listened to so many verses and hadiths? Beware! Do not keep eating usury! Do not delay repenting! Do not forget that the surface of the world is full of 'tomorrow's and the underground is full of 'I wish'es. You may soon find yourself under the ground, yelling in repentance. However, it will be too late and your repentance will not be of any use there.

There are many more hadiths that we can mention. We refer those who are interested to the usury chapters of hadith books and do not want to add more. For, even only one of the verses and hadiths we have mentioned is enough for guidance and repentance for those who want to repent. If a person does not want to repent and insists on committing that sin, it will be of no use to quote all of those verses and hadiths.

We have prepared this work so that we will not be held responsible by our Lord on the Day of Judgment. When our Lord asks us, “O my slaves! I gave you knowledge. When people ate usury, did you tell them that it was a big sin in my eye? Did you warn them?", we will say, “Yes. O Lord! We warned them as much as we could. We told them about Your verses and the words of Your Messenger. That was what we were able to do.”

O Lord! Accept this work, which we have prepared for your consent. Make it a means of acquittal for us on the Day of Judgment. Make this work a means of repentance for those who eat usury abandoning the sin of usury. And make this work a means of atonement for those who support us materially and spiritually. Amin!

4- The accepter of interest and its payer are cursed.

Jabir Ibn Abdullah said, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the witnesses, and he said: They are all equal in terms of sins.” (Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn Majah)

I want to show this hadith to those who say, “I do not devour usury; I have only got a bank loan to buy a house or a car" and tell them that what is forbidden is not usury (interest) only. To pay interest, to record (write) it and to be a witness of the transaction is also forbidden. Our Prophet (pbuh) stated that the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the witnesses are equal in terms of sins.

What happened to the Muslims of this age? They changed the name of usury (interest) as credit and regard it as halal. Does usury become halal when we change its name and call it credit? A person who gets usury says, "I got credit" not "I got interest". Does he think he will not be held responsible when he calls interest credit? Or does he not know that credit is interest? He knows it very well but he finds an excuse for it as he does for the other sins; he thinks he will be saved due to this excuse. That is, he does what he always does and deceives himself.

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2- A Sin that Destroys People

The following is reported from Abu Hurayra: The Messenger of Allah said, “Avoid the seven great destructive sins." The people there asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What are they? "He said, "To join others in worship along with Allah, to practice sorcery, to kill the life which Allah has forbidden except for a just cause, to eat up usury (interest), to eat up an orphan's wealth, to give back to the enemy and fleeing from the battlefield at the time of fighting, and to accuse, chaste women who never even think of anything touching chastity.” (Bukhari, Muslim) Now, let us have a look at the other 6 sins which are considered to be equal to usury: polytheism, sorcery, killing people, eating up an orphan's wealth, fleeing from the battlefield and slandering chaste women. These destructive sins mentioned in the hadith are the biggest sins that destroy the otherworldly life of a person.

Now, we want to address the person who eats up usury: Your Prophet, whom you believe in, describes the sin of usury, which you commit recklessly, as destructive. Are you not afraid of being destroyed? Or, do you not believe in the word of the Prophet? Or, you believe in him but do you think that you will be forgotten and you will not be accounted for it? You take into consideration the warnings of people who might tell lies and you avoid something even if there is a risk of only one percent; why do you not take into consideration the warning of your Prophet, who never told lies, and not avoid usury and other sins? Do you have an answer to this question?