The Concept of Usury and Its Types and Opinions on Its Prohibition

Abstract

After Islam prohibited usury and declared war on usurers, emphasizing its prohibition, scholars have unanimously agreed that its worldly punishment is discretionary (ta’zir), as there is no specific legal limit for consuming usury. The determination of ta’zir is the prerogative of the legitimate ruler, who is authorized to specify the type and amount of punishment according to what serves the interest and prevents harm in non-specified cases. As for the one dealing in usury without knowing its prohibition, their ruling is repentance only. The research aims to clarify the concept of usury, its types, and present the opinions on it by surveying the views of jurists and interpreters and their evidence from the Quran and the noble Sunnah. This is due to its importance and impact in our present time, with the prevalence of usurers and the taking of interest by some governmental and private banks without regard to the religious prohibition. This research aims to clarify the reasons for its prohibition by the sacred law, following the descriptive inductive method for everything mentioned about it in the Quran and the noble Sunnah. From this standpoint, our research here addresses the concept of usury, its definition linguistically and terminologically, its types, and the purpose behind them. It also presents the opinions of jurists and interpreters on the prohibition of usury and their evidence for it, following the descriptive inductive method, which will be clarified through the research sections.