Understanding Riba in Language and Sharia Terms

The beauty of Islamic law is that it allows and prohibits things

All praises be to Allah Story who has made this Shari’a so beautiful, beautiful with His commands and beautiful with His prohibitions. So it’s not God Story prohibit something, unless there is something bad in it. Rather, not God Story order something, unless there is goodness and benefit in it.

Therefore, Allah Story sent His Messenger to explain what is halal and what is haram. Allah Story said,

The people who followed the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they found written among them in the Torah and the Gospel. He ordered them to do what was right. And He kept them away from evil, and permitted for them good things, and forbade them evil, and freed them from the burdens and shackles imposed on them.

“(Namely,) those who follow the Messenger (Muhammad), the Ummi Prophet (not literate) whose (name) they found written in the Torah and the Gospel that they have. He instructed them to do what is right, to prevent what is evil.making everything that is good for them permissible, and forbidding everything that is bad for themand remove the burdens and shackles that are on them.” (QS. Al-‘Araf: 157)

Sheikh ‘Abdurrahman bin Nashir As-Sa’di God bless interpret the verse above,

Because it is permissible for them to eat good things, such as food, drink and marriage. He forbade them bad things, such as food, drink, sexual relations, words and deeds.

“Indeed, Allah has made lawful for them (humans) good things in the form of food, drink, and marriage. Likewise, Allah has forbidden for them the bad things of food, drink, and marriage, as well as Allah has forbidden things related to words or actions.” (Tafsir As-Sa’di)

Usury is the destroyer of blessings

At this time, give thanks Most Muslims have begun to understand the dangers of usury. Not a few of them are looking to find out what usury is, what the law is, and so on. This burning enthusiasm in studying halal and haram is nothing but taufik from Allah.

Likewise, quite a few teachers, ustadz, para Mashaikh, and others explain things that are forbidden, including usury. Because there is no riba in a muamalah, unless there is a party who is harmed. There is no usury in a loan agreement unless it destroys its blessings. This is a promise from Allah Tax. Allah Story said,

Allah abolished usury and increased charity. And God does not like every unbeliever who sins.

“Allah removes (the blessings of) usury and enriches charity.” (QS. Al-Baqarah: 276)

Pay attention to the words He’s right in God’s word Story on. Ibn Ashur God bless said,

And abolition is like abolition: in the sense of eliminating something, and among them is the disappearance of the moon and the disappearance of its light on a dark night, and the purpose of Allah in eliminating usury is that He destroys what he obtains in this world.

“The word al-mahqu has the same meaning as erasing, it means eliminating something. Another meaning is muhaaqul qomar (disappearance of moonlight). So it can be interpreted that the meaning of ‘Allah eliminates usury’ is, Allah destroys and destroys the results obtained from usury in the world.” (At-Tahrir wat Tanwir)

Conclusion of the word He’s right there are two things:

• Remove the property completely from the owner’s hands.
• It is forbidden to get blessings on one’s wealth. So no benefit can be taken from these assets.

This was conveyed by Al-Imam Ibn Kathir God bless in his interpretation, and explained by Sheikh Muhammad Al-Amin Asy-Syinqithiy God bless in the Adhwa’ul Bayan.

Prevention of Islamic law from the system muamalah the bad one

Islamic Sharia pays great attention to the prohibitions of the system muamalah and bad trade. Like the usury system and so on. This needs to be explained and it needs to be revealed that this is haram considering that usury is a deviation from the system muamalah correct. This is different from legal buying and selling in general, which can be carried out directly because it is in accordance with the original law, namely

The basic principle regarding something is that it is permissible

“The original law of everything is permissible.”

As for usury, its haraam needs to be revealed because it violates the original rules in the contracts.

The issue of usury is a problem that is considered quite strange (complicated) by the ulama. Narrated from ‘Umar bin Khattab radiyallahu ‘anhu, he says,

I hope that the Messenger of Allah, may God bless him and grant him peace, does not leave us until he entrusts us with a covenant: seriousness, trust, and some gates of usury.

“I really hope that Rasulullah shallallahu ‘alihi wa sallam has not separated from us, so that he will give us a provision regarding the inheritance issue of grandfathers, kalalah (a person who dies without having heirs from children and parents), and problems including usury.” (HRBukhari)

Namely problems that are vague in nature and almost similar to usury. So from this it is known that the discussion of usury is quite a complicated discussion.

Meaning of usury

Usury in language

Linguistically, usury is defined as,

Improvement and growth

“Grow and develop.”

Allah Story said,

And he cultivated charity

“And God look after (develop) charity.” (QS. Al-Baqarah: 276)

Allah Story also said,

And you saw the earth lifeless, and when We sent down water on it, it trembled, swelled, and gave rise to all kinds of pleasant plants.

“You see that the earth is dry. If We send water (rain) on it, it will live and… become fertile and grow various types of beautiful (plants).” (QS. Al-Hajj: 5)

Riba from the perspective of Sharia

Differences of opinion on various matters, differences of opinion on various matters, specializing in various matters, and the Shari’ah forbids it.

“There is a higher amount in some things, and a delay (tempo) in some things, specifically in certain things which the Shari’a has prohibited.”

It can be interpreted that usury is an addition to a loan agreement or other contracts. God bless.

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Also read: The Dangers of Eating Usury

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Dear, 6 6 October 17, 2025

Writer: Muhammad Zia Abdurrofi

Article Muslim.or.id

Reference:

Extracted from the book Fiqhul Muamalat Al-Maaliyah Al-Muyassar, Dr. Abdurrahman bin Hamur Al-Muthiriy.