Interest in Islamic Economics

Understanding Riba

Abdulkader Thomas

• Editorial: Routledge
• Año: 2005
• ISBN:
  9781134293193
• Edición: 1
• Categoría: Economics
• Categoría: Economic Theory

With Islamic banking gradually becoming a more influential factor in the West, an analysis of the concept of riba – a definition of which is not given in the Qur'an – is long overdue. This text presents readers with various interpretations of this Islamic economic concept – generally perceived as 'interest'. Thomas provides a framework for understanding riba by examining:

• linguistics
• classical judicial analysis
• the historical context
• modern economics.

Including contributions from prominent international scholars, the book fills a gap in the existing literature and will be welcomed by academics and professionals with an interest in Islamic studies, economics and legal history.

1
Riba in Lisan Al Arab^*

Translated by Ruba Alfattouh, Abdulkader Thomas, and Najwa Abdel Hadi

Riba

The grammatical declination of the noun riba is ^{yarbu-rubuwwan-riba'n.}Raba (the past simple verb) means: increased and grew. The inflectional arbaytuhu (first person pronoun and objective included) means, “I increased it.” In the Holy Quran, “yurbe the charities” means, “increase the charities.” From here, the forbidden riba was taken. God the Great said, “The riba you perpetrate (leyarbuwa) to augment people’s money does not yarbu (grow) with God.” Abu Ishaq said, “yarbu means that man pays something in order to be compensated for more than he paid.” In most interpretations, this is not forbidden. But, there is no reward for the one who increased what he took. He said, “riba is of two kinds: one is forbidden. Every loan that is returned with an increase, or for which a profit is gained, is forbidden. The permissible riba is to donate money, asking God for more than the money you gave away, or to give it as a gift so that you would be given even more.”

With respect to pronunciation, Al said, “In the previous Quranic verse, the letter was read leyarbuwa with the y sound and the short a vowel sound after w. Also ‘Asem and Al-A’ mash read it this way. The people of Hijaz read it as (letarbw) with the t letter and as a nominative case. He said, “Both are correct.” Those who read letarbw, the verb is for the people addressed. The clue for this subjunctive grammatical case is dropping the final consonant with the vowel a after it, as you should have pronounced tarbuwanna in the nominative case. When it is read leyarbuwa, the sentence means to increase the money you gave in order to get more. This is rubuwwa or increase. And the third does not increase with God. The zakat that you give seeking no return increases by multiplication.

The man arba. Arba is an inflectional case of riba, yurbe. Al-rrubya is derived from riba, and is lightened in articulation. In the saying or hadith of the Prophet, in the reconciliation of Najran people, “There is no rubbayya, or blood on them.” Abu ‘Ubayd said, “That’s how it was narrated, by doubling the letters b and y.” said, “But, it is rubya lightened, by which the Prophet meant riba which they had in the pre-Islamic age, and the blood for which they were owed.” He also said, “Analogy of rubbayya of riba is ^{hubbayya of ihtiba'}. The unwritten speech of the Arabs indicated that they spoke with the y sound saying rubya and hubya, and did not say rubwa and hubwa. The word’s root is the letter w. The meaning of the Prophet’s saying is that what they inherited from ancestors from the pre-Islamic age, or what they committed of a crime was dropped. Every drop of blood for which they were owed, and every riba they were responsible for were dropped, except their capital, which was given back to them. The word riba was repeatedly mentioned in the hadith. The root means increase from the money raba (past simple): increased and raised. The name riba is grammatically defective because it ends with the vowel a. In the canonical law of Islam, riba is the increase on the original amount of money without a sales contract. It has many rules in fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence.

The word mentioned in the hadith was rubbayya with the b and y letters doubled. Ibn Al-Athir said, “It is not known in the language.” Al-Zamakhshari said, “Comparing it’s declination method with ^{fu' uwla}of ^fi'l,it would be rubbayya of riba. As ^flis the first stem of the Arabic verb.” The same analogy applies to Al-ssurrayya of sarw taken from asra (same pattern with arba). Asra the man’s maids means to free them.

In the narration of Tahfa, “He who refrains will have to pay Al-rribwa,” meaning that he who refrains from paying zakat will have to increase his religious duty as a punishment. It is narrated, “He who admits the jizya tax on non-Muslims under Muslim rule has to pay al-rribwa,” which means that one who does not join Islam because of zakat, has to pay jizya which is more than he would have paid in zakat if he were a Muslim.

To arba over fifty and so forth means to increase. In the narration of Al-Ansar on the day of Uhud, “If you hit them at a day like this one, we will nurbiyanna the punishment with utmost cruelty on them.” This means that we will increase and double. Al-Jawhari: riba in trade, and the man arba. In the hadith, “He who collected, had arba (increase).” In the hadith on charity, “It ^tarbwin the palm of the Merciful until it becomes greater than the mountain.”

The stem of a plant raba and so forth rubuwwan, water was poured on it, so it puffed up. God the Great in describing the earth, said, “It has shaken and rabat.” It is said that it meant that the earth has become greater and got inflated. Some read it ^"raba't".When read as rabat it is taken from raba, yarbw: meaning that, if added to any of the sides, it increases. He who read ^raba'twith the glottal sound (‘), it meant, that the earth raised in height. Somebody cursed somebody else, and arba in his cursing, that is, he added to it.

God the Great said, “He took them in a spell that was rabeya.” This means that it was a spell that surpassed other spells. Al-Jawhari said, “it means exceeding (increasing), as when you say arbayt when you take more than you give.”

Al-rrabw and al-rrabwah mean to be overweening and self conceited.^Al-A'rabirecited:

Without haughtiness and dazzling display and rabwa
As if you two were chocked-full with saliva.

Meaning that you will not have mastery over it until after haughtiness on your tiptoes and after you are taken by rabw (conceit).

AL-RRABWU: The lofty spirit, raba, yarbw, rabwan. He was taken by rabw, we searched for the hunting until tarabayna, meaning until we were overwhelmed.

In the narration of Aisha, may God be pleased with her, the Prophet said to her, “why do I see you hashiya and rabeya.” He meant by rabeya: taken by al-rrabw or the breathlessness, and that is the panting and quick breathing which the one who walks and moves fast has, and so is the hashiya. The horse raba is said when the horse becomes inflated out of running or fear. Bishr Bin Abi Khazem said:

As if the rustling of his nostrils, if he suppressed al-rrabwa, a false bellows.

Al-Lihyani said Al-rriba, and its grammatical dual is ribwan and ribyan. Its root is the letter w. The dual was made with the y sound, only for easing the pronunciation toward the i sound in ribyan. The money raba, increased by riba. Al-murbi is the one who deals with riba. Al-rrabw, Al-rrabwatu, Al-rrubwatu, Al-rribwa, Al-rrabawa, Al-rrubawa, Alrribawa, Al-rrabiya, Al-rrabatu: all that raised above the earth and raba. Al-Muthaqqab^Al-'Abdi said:

They ascended rabawatan and descended and disappeared And so they did not return to rising for sometime

Ibn ^{Ibn Al-A'rabi}recited:

The^'Ashannaq(a name of a horse) misses being tamed Even if he covers the (madeed) extended rabat.

The madeed or extended, could be an attribute of ^'Ashannaq, and it could be an attribute to rabat. But in the latter case, its noun pattern is^fa'eel for madeed, and it stands for ^mafoolafor mamdooda. It could be inferred from the meaning as if he is saying alrrabwa al-madeeda. If so, it would be an active participle and a passive participle.

The man arba if he lived on, or attended to a rabiya or a hill. Ibn Ahmar said describing a cow, for which the wolf frequently comes and goes after its young one:

She turbi (rises) to him, so he is glad by its appearance one time, and some other time he tries to neglect him, so she becomes troubled.

In the hadith, “Alferdaws is the rabwa of heaven.” This means the more exalted, or higher, level of heaven. Ibn Durayd, “Somebody has ^raba'unover somebody else.” ^Raba'unwith the short vowel for the a sound after r and lengthening the last a after the letter b. It means power or might. In the Holy Quran, “Comparable to a heaven with a rabwatin.”

Note

^*Translated and abridged from Mukarram, Imam Abi Fadl Jamaluddin Muhammad bin, Lisan Al Arab (Beirut: Dar Saadr, n.d.), p. 304. It is further abridged from the original translation, which appeared in The American Journal of Islamic Finance and is meant to cover only the definitional aspects relating to increase. Most elements relating to flora and fauna as well as poetry have been excised from the end of the entry where they originally appeared.

2
In the Shadow of Deuteronomy

Approaches to interest and usury in Judaism and Christianity

Vincent J.Cornell^*

The fundamental ruling on usury for both Judaism and medieval Christianity is a Biblical statement found in the book of Deuteronomy, which reads, “You must not lend on interest (neshekh) to your brother, whether the loan be of money or food or anything else that may earn interest” (23:19–20).¹ This passage is supported ...