Prohibition of Interest: A Unity Between Christianity and Islam

By

Muhammad Sani Liman, mnse.

NEPA TRANSYSCO

Transmission Work Center

Yola, Nigeria.

limanms@myway.com

 

 

To many people especially the history students, money is the root of all evils. But one thing all of us agree with is that, money has a contaminating control over our lives. It is sought after, fought and prayed over, never has one word meant so much to so many people. Money reaches deep into our lives, and it stands as an in-escapable reality of modern civilized elusion, an elusion played out by billions of people around the globe. The elusion is that, a simple piece of paper has value: the greedy and ungodly ones manipulate, control and exploit the poor and less privileged because of money.

 

Around the clock, around the planet, money is always on the move, it is estimated that well over $340bn in cash is in circulation world wide. Through out history, money has had neither hard nor past definition: rock, salt, gold and some times it is even edible. With the introduction of money, local transactions were open up to a global audience and in this modern time, it is simply a “cyber charged electronic pause.” Since those early days, money has been the secret weapon that fuels revolutions and it is money that shapes and moulds the planet which we live in. It is a known fact that money represents raw power; the more money you have the more powerful and feared you are in your locality.

 

Historians believe that in the beginning, there was no money and civilization. Every man obtained his necessities of life such as food and clothing through his own efforts in some way or another. Then trade by barter was developed. In it, every man benefited because he would only trade something he had for something that he wanted or of greater values in some manner to him self. It was soon realized that, by specializing, a man could produce a given commodity much more efficiently and trade his surplus with other specialist to obtain all his needs.

 

Through out history, it is believed that small percentage of human population control the wealth of the world. It is believed that, before the collapse of Babylon, 3% of the people owned the wealth, and in old Persia before it went down to destruction, 2% of the people owned all the wealth. Like wise the ancient Greece before its ruin, 0.5% of the people owned the wealth. And before the collapse of Roman Empire, the Medici family and a couple of mere 2,000 people were believed to have owned the total wealth of the “civilized” world; and it is now believe that less than 2% of the people control almost 90% of the wealth of the only remaining super power, America! And America controls well over 50% of the World Bank.

 

 

 

History has established that, in all civilizations including ours, most of those/these people that control world’s finances, are not God fearing type. The modern global finance system was created by the Knights Templar which was a military and religious order that officially came to a controversial and mysterious end on Friday, 13 October 1307 when the Roman Catholic Church closed them down. They latter regrouped and take the name of Freemasons. “…The modern system of banking which we take for granted was created by the Templar, who held vast sums of money for every throne in Europe.” (House of Horrors: History of Knights Templar).

 

The high-priest of capitalism-those who control the world’s largest corporations and financial institutions-are among the most influential and powerful men on earth. The strategies which they employ and the policies which the third world countries are expected to surrender, directly disobeys the fundamental laws of humanity which Islam and Christianity believe were given to our ancestors by God Himself. The origin of their ideology can be traced back to ancient brotherhood which apparently survives today in the form of modern secret societies. The course of history has been set, and the future of human civilization is daily decided by the influence of these businessmen, the most powerful men in the world.

 

For example, in April 2002, a number of big financial companies merged to form one of the world’s largest investment corporations and named it Isis Asset Management PLC. Isis is an ancient Egyptian goddess, and the crown of Isis, a horned solar disc was placed as the logo of the company. But the company’s literature does not mention the religious or historical significance of this new name in the world of global finance, and it would not be apparent except to those with prerequisite knowledge.

 

 

ISLAMIC FINANCE AND MORDERN BANKING SYSTEM.

 

If we, as Muslims and Christians think we’re living in a society based on Islamic and Christian principles, then we better think again. We all live under the New Secular Order-Novus Ordo Seclorum-in which financial institutions and courts of laws are in a total display of inexplicable of hypocrisy. The courts of laws that uphold and enforce usury/interest also require people to swear oaths on the holy books in which God directly forbids these activities.

 

About four centuries after the fall of Rome and Roman civilization, a new power arose from the Arabian deserts, the soldiers of Islam not only came embodied with classical tenants associated with religion, but also had bond in the noble Qur’an the manner of economics and trade. A vast free zones spread from Spain to China. Ibn Battuta, the greatest explorer once in his life time traveled over 70,000miles, about four times further than his contemporary, Marcopolo.Travel of this kind became more frequent in the Islamic empire fuelled by circulation of money, commerce and trade. Trade was dictated on religious grounds, courts of business laws were highly developed derived from the noble Qur’an, and it is on these principles that fairness and clean trade in financial institutions were born. Greed and hoarding were globally despised and a beautiful balance was established between financial and religious prosperity. Zakat (alms given to the poor) allowed Islamic empire to sustain every one at a high standard of living. The gross class division between rich and poor were not

in existence in this era. Through out the Islamic empire, a harmonious relationship between commerce and religion has existed, it is this relationship that kept commerce pure.

 

The charging of interest, dishonesty and greed are known element associated with money, however, the great Islamic empire stand as an alternative to this norm. An empire built on the economic principles of a religion kept an entire nation both prosperous and Godly for centauries.

 

The history of modern banking system is traceable to the old Babylon where making of gold jewelry or goldsmithing was first discovered. Goldsmith that dealt with large quantities of gold needed secure vaults, or safes, in which they stored their valuable goods. And the Babylonian marchants and craftsmen also required security for their money. It soon became a common practice for them to “deposit” their monies with the goldsmiths for a small fee. The goldsmiths in return will give the depositor a receipt for the amount of the deposit. If a depositor wanted to buy goods, he gives a supplier a receipt of equal amount, rather than transferring the metallic coins. Because of its simplicity, this method became so convenient and was commonly practiced. On paper, an amount was simply transferred on to the books of another, thus, was born the business of banking.

 

Interest is a system designed where money loaned generates money as principal of service. The devious Babylonian goldsmiths soon realized that, of all the deposited gold, only a small percentage was reclaimed each month with the warehouse receipt they had issued. Knowing them as wealthy men, some times loans were often asked, they soon started lending as much as 90% of the gold on deposit with them, but requiring up to 1/3 of the loaned gold as interest for a fixed period.

 

Since there was a limited amount of gold in circulation, they soon “cornered” the market on gold and became the richest men in Babylon. These same people and those with mentality like theirs are referred to in Revelation 18:23:

         “For thy marchants were the great men of the earth; for by their sorceries

           Were all nations deceived.”

                                     

Archeological searches and excavations near Baghdad City in Iraq have uncovered evidence of Babylon’s social and economic system; they are very much similar to today’s system. For example, the Igibi Bank was found with thousands of clay tablet “notes” and “interest” bearing contracts, which served as their money.

 

According to the Encyclopedia of the Renaissance, under Banking, it is stated that:

Renaissance banking was basically the same as medieval banking, with a few great houses offering merchant banking services. The first such organization was that of the Knights Templar (Freemasons), who by 1200 were in effect bankers to the Kings of England and France.”

 

This view is also shared by the Masons themselves, Prince Hall Masonry website: Who were the Knights Templar? Stated that:                                                                                                             “Due to their vast wealth and surplus of materials the Templars essentially invented banking, as we know it. The Church forbade the lending of money for interest, which

they called usury. The Templars, being the clever sort they were, changed the manner in which loans were paid and were able to skirt the issue and finance even Kings.”

 

 

 

PROHIBITION OF INTEREST

 

In the Holy Qur’an, Romans Chapter 30:41 – 42, it is stated that:

“Evil (sins and disobedience to God) has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned (by evil deeds), that He (God) may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return (by repenting). Say (O Muhammad): Travel in the land and see what the end of those before (you) was! Most of them were polytheists.”

 

We are all living in a world were we could be overtaken by a disaster at any time, this is due to man’s injustice to man. Some schools of thought believe that the destruction of past civilizations and empires was due to consumption of interest. It was said that Babylon loaned much money at interest to Persia which, of course Persia could not repay, therefore they conquered Babylon to eliminate its debt and acquire Babylon’s gold. Later, Persia adopted the Babylonian usury system and loaned Greece much money at interest. Greece of course could not repay the debt and conquered Persia to eliminate its debt. Greece also adopted the same system and loaned Rome much money at interest that they could not even think of repaying, Rome followed what others did and conquered Greece for the same reasons. Now the question remains, can the third world nations conquer the creditor nations to free themselves from the shackles of their debts? Only time can tell.

 

Interest as defined by Funk and Wagnall Standard Dictionary, is the “payment for the use of money, or money so paid, and agreed statutory compensation accruing to a creditor during the time a loan or debt remains unpaid.” Or “something added in making a return; something more than is due.” Interest is a system where money loaned generates money as principal of service. It ranges from soft loans in our Thrift and Cooperative societies i.e. in our working places to corporate lending in the world’s capitalist financial institutions.

 

Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher believed that money was to serve as an exchange and not a means to profit by the use of interest. While Pluto, regarded it as a means where the rich could exploit the poor.

 

According to the Jewish Torah and Christian Bible (Old Testament), the second book of Moses, Exodus Chapter 22:25 stated that charging of interest on loans is strictly prohibited by God:

“If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him  as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay him usury.”

It is also stated in Deuteronomy 23:19-20 that:

“Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent upon usury. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother shalt not lend upon usury…”

 

 

 

This was conveniently interpreted by some Jews to mean due to Jews, hence making it legal on non-Jews. The Talmud –Jewish religious and ideology-is explicit on this point, it is stated there-in, that “the Jews have been ordained by God that they accept interest from non-Jews and it is prohibited to advance loans without charging interest.”  The Holy Qur’an confirms this Jews mentality in Nisaa 4:161

“And for their taking of interest-though indeed they were forbidden it-and their devouring the property of people falsely. And We have prepared for the disbelievers from among them a painful chastisement.”

 

But the New Testament of the Holy Bible is very specific about prohibition of interest and collecting gratification of any form when a loan is advanced.

“And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the thankful and the evil.” Luke 6:34-35

At the council of Nacea in Christian era 325 A.D., Emperor Constantine purged trinity despite a strong opposition from the Christians of the time, however, on the subject of interest the emperor failed to sway the uncompromising Christians. The church’s decision was to cause friction for centuries in Europe. Eventually, interest came to be charged in Europe in abundance, and eventually the church gave in neglecting the Bible in favor of democratic decree. In 1541, English law allowed interest to be charged up to a fix limit, any excess of this will then be considered unlawful. The church that held out for centuries had finally given in completely. One Christian writer is noted as having stated that interest is necessary for salvation.

 

Islam is the only religion on earth that incorporates in totality all aspect of complete financial and government system. Islam thus combines the spiritual and habitual, the issue of interest is made clear in the Holy Qur’an:

“O you who believe, devour not interest doubling and redoubling, and keep your duty to God; that you may be successful.”  Al-Imran, 3:130

 

In Islam, Riba (interest) is of two types: Riba an-Nasi’ah, i.e. interest on lent money: and Ribal Fadl, i.e. taking a superior thing of the same kind of goods by given more of the same kind of goods of inferior quality. Example of  this is what most of us know in Hausa as “kakara ”, it is given your goods/item of inferior quality to collect a superior  one and balance some amount of money, for example changing a car or a tyre of the same make and model for a superior one. Say given a Honda 86 model to a car dealer or a Dunlop tyre say 185 X 13R X 70 to a tyre merchant for better Honda 86 or same tyre of better quality respectively. This prohibition is supported by a Hadith of the Prophet of Islam as reported by Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (R.A.) that:

“Once Bilal brought Barni (a kind of) dates to the prophet (S.A.W) and the prophet (S.A.W.) asked him, “From where have you brought these?” Bilal replied, “I had some inferior kind of dates and exchanged two sa’ (measures) of it for one sa’ (measure) of Barni dates, in order to give it to the prophet (S.A.W.) to eat.” There upon the prophet (S.A.W.) said, “Beware! Beware! This is definitely Riba (interest)! This is definitely Riba (interest)! Don’t do so, but if you want to buy (a superior kind) sell the inferior kind of dates for money and then, buy the superior kind of dates with that money.” Al-Bukhari 3/2312 page 506

 

Because there is no God’s blessing in interest, it neither increase individuals nor national wealth, on the other hand, it decrease wealth.

“And whatever you buy out at interest, so that it may increase in the property of men, it increases not with God.”  Qur’an, Romans, 3:39

 

And in a strong worded Hadith as narrated by Abu Juhaifa (R.A.), the prophet of Islam (S.A.W.) forbade taking the price of blood and  price of dog and the earning of a prostitute, and caused the one who took or gave Riba (interest) …Al-Bukhari, 7/5962 page 845. And in a related but very long Hadith, prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) said:

Last night two persons (angels) came to me (in a dream) and woke me up and said to me, “Proceed!  Proceed!” I set out with them…And so we proceeded and came across a river-red like blood-The prophet (S.A.W.) added, “And behold, in the river there was a man swimming, and on the bank there was a man who had collected many stones. Behold, while the other man was swimming, he went near him. The former opened his mouth and the latter (on the bank) throw a stone into his mouth whereupon he went on swimming again…the performance was (been) repeated. I asked my two companions, “Who are these two persons?” …They replied…and the man whom you saw swimming in the river, and was given a stone to swallow, is the eater of Riba (interest)…” Al-Bukhari, 9/7047 page 171.

 

 

WHY IS INTEREST PROHIBITED?

 

The prohibition of interest by the two holy books has wisdom behind it. One writer, Sidney Homer said in his book, A History of Interest, that: “It seems fair to say that the free market long-term rates of interest for any industrial nation, properly charted, provide a sort of fever chart of the economic and political health of that nation.” Many writers suggested why interest is prohibited.

 

Interest is sure gain without any possibility of loss, a reward without work; it contributes to inflation, retards economic growth and development. It eats social fabric of society.

 

The institution of interest provides banks with unproductive channels to employ their capital so that capital which should have been available for productive purposes becomes scarce. It limits the marginal efficiency of capital which results in a further limitation of employment.

 

When one looks at the crises ridden area of the world, interest is indirectly related to dumping and crises because of the poverty it proliferates. And if we look at interest from moral and spiritual points of view, we see clearly that is based on greed, selfishness, hart-heartedness and likes and nurtures the same evils in the money lender.

 

Interest retards social and infrastructural development of a nation. The more the debt is paid, the more it increases. Take for example Nigeria’s external debt, a Leadership

Newspaper columnist, Uche Ezechuku summed it all in his article, How to hang all of us, that:

…our indebtedness was said to stand at about $35bn, and it still climbing. And should  it surprise any one that the total loans which Nigeria has taken from the international creditors is not in excess of $18bn,…more surprising is the fact that having paid back about $49bn for that amount till date, Nigeria is still said to be owing some $35bn. Some strange arithmetic…” (Leadership, March 20th 2005)

 

The interest issuing groups make billions and are deceiving many through many ways, from bank accounts that accumulates interest to credit card debts not settle before interest is applied. Many people who are adverse to interest are caught up in its work in one way or another, from local thrift, cooperatives and loan societies to corporate financing. Today, banks and thrifts incur interest and this unfortunately is seen as not a big issue, however, it is, both the giving and issuing of interest is clearly prohibited by God’s laws as shown earlier.

 

They who control the credit of a country, directs the policies of government and holding the palm of their hands and destiny of the people as we are seeing in the present democratic Nigeria, where our budgets and spending are directed and controlled by the IMF and the World Bank under America’s leadership.

 

America has expanded its control beyond its borders; anyone who opposes it is propagated as enemy of peace and equality and more recently a terrorist. IMF and the World Bank have been the tools for the manipulation and assimilation of resources of third world countries. America, in real sense and as a nation or people has no enemy; they have set up a climate favoring the World Bank and its policies and puppet governments in the developing countries. Free trade without discrimination against U.S. goods, a favorable climate for American investment in foreign economies and an impeded access to raw materials of the developing nations.

 

In 1960, the International Development Association (IDA) was established; its aim was to provide interest free loans to the world’s poorest countries, these loans from IDA is responsible for the present debt of today’s poorest countries, Mexico, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, China, Philippines, Argentina, Korea, Columbia, Morocco and Nigeria still struggle under their financial burden that repayment of IDA loans created on their economies, their peoples live lives of misery and squalor and yet no one stands accountable. Hiding behind the mask of reconstruction, the World Bank’s intention is to force third world countries into submission, and render them financially and politically weaken!

 

“O you who believe, keep your duty to God and relinquish what remains (due) from interest, if you are believers. But if you do not, then you shall appraise of war from God and His messenger; and if you repent, then you shall have your capital. Wrong not, and you shall not be wronged.” Qur’an 2:278

 

The holy prophet (SAW), on his last pilgrimage and his last sermon to the faithfully on mount Arafat, said:

“Every form of interest is cancelled; capital indeed is yours which you shall have, wrong not and you shall not be wronged. God has given His injunctions that interest is totally forbidden.” (Muwatta Imam Malik).

 

Peace on to those who follow the divine guidance.