Usury Jurisprudence (Chapter 8): Types of Usury (2)

In the previous discussion, riba was explained Fadhl and usury nasi’ah which falls into the category of usury spell‘ (buy and sell). The six types of usury assets have also been mentioned. This is confirmed in the hadiths conveyed by the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Among them, he said in the hadith ‘Ubadah bin Syamits,

Gold with gold, silver with silver, wheat with wheat, barley with barley, dates with dates, salt with salt, the like, the like. Likewise, hand to hand. If these items are different, then sell them as you wish if done in person.

“If gold is sold for gold, silver is sold for silver, wheat is sold for wheat, sya’ir (a type of wheat) is sold for sya’ir, dates are sold for dates, and salt is sold for salt, then the amount (measure or weight) must be the same and paid in cash (cash). If the types of goods are different, then you can exchange them as you like, but it must be done in cash (cash).” (HR. Muslim no. 1587)

In this hadith, six types of usurious assets are mentioned:

• Not that
• Silver
• Wheat
• Sha’ir (a type of wheat)
• Dates
• Salt

Of course, the law on these six usury assets is clear and how to transact with these six assets so as not to fall into usury. A question arises, are usurious assets only limited to the six types of goods above? Or are there usury assets other than the six assets mentioned above?

Differences between scholars regarding usurious assets apart from the six types

First opinion: Jumhur ulama

Most scholars are of the opinion that usury applies to the six types of usurious property mentioned by the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam in the hadith ‘Ubadah above, as well as everything that has similarities ‘perfume (legal reasons) with these commodities.

Regarding this matter, the majority of ulama are of the opinion of the hadith of Ma’mar bin Abdillah which Rasulullah SAW once heard. sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said,

Food for food, like for like

“Food ingredients (exchanged) for food ingredients, the scales (measures) must be the same.” (HR. Muslim no. 1592)

Sheikh Khalid Al-Musayqih hafidzahullah said, “The pronunciation of ‘food’ is more common than the four types (ribawi assets) mentioned in the ‘Ubadah’ hadith.”

This means that the pronunciation of food in the Ma’mar hadith has a more general context compared to the four types of food mentioned in the ‘Ubadah bin Syamits hadith. Until the food ‘aroma-it is the same as usurious property, it is punished as usurious property and the law applies the same as for the six usurious assets.

There is also a hadith from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar radiyallahu ‘anhu associated with muzabanah

Rasulullah SAW, prohibited muzabanah and muzabanah: selling dates by measure, selling raisins by measure on grapes, and selling each fruit according to its measure.

“The Messenger of Allah, SAW, forbade al-muzabanah. Al-muzabanah is selling dates (still on the tree) with dried dates according to the measure (kailan), selling raisins with grapes (still on the tree) according to the measure, and (forbid) selling any fruit of the same type according to the measure/estimate (kharsan). (Muttafaqun ‘alaih)

From the hadith of ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar above, it can be seen that the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam prohibits selling raisins and grapes, even though both are not included in the six usurious assets. Likewise, he forbade selling fruit with similar fruit in measurements/estimates. So that most scholars have concluded that if an item or property is ‘aroma-is the same as usurious property, then usury law applies to it.

Then in another hadith from Sa’id bin Al-Musayyib Mursal and recommended by Al-Albani [2],

The Prophet forbade selling animal meat

“The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, forbade buying and selling meat with animals.”

There is a note from Ibnul Qayyim God bless related to the hadith above,

What is true in this hadith – if proven – is that what is meant is that if the animal is intended for its meat, for example a sheep whose meat is intended, then it is sold for its meat; So he sells the meat at the price of more than one type of meat, and the meat is a balanced food, so it includes usury credit in it.

“The correct opinion regarding this hadith – if indeed the degree is fixed (saheeh) – is that what is meant by the prohibition is if the animal is intended for its meat, such as a goat whose meat is intended for meat and then sold (exchanged) for meat. In this way, he has sold meat (live animals) with meat (which has been slaughtered) which is more of the same type. Meanwhile, meat is a food ingredient (qut) which is weighed (mauzun), so it falls into the category of usury al-fadl.” (‘Ilamul Muwaqi’in, 2: 112)

Also read: Usury Practices in Online Transactions

Second opinion: Opinion of Al-Imam Thawus, Qotadah, Zahiriyyah School, and Ibnu Aqil from the Hambali School

They only limit usury to six types of usurious assets and do not apply to others, regardless of type perfumeit’s the same Between their arguments,

• That’s the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam only specializes in the six types of usurious assets. This shows that that is what is meant by usurious assets.
• If usury applies to every item that is measured (lightning) and weighed (for you) other than those things, he definitely is sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam will say, ‘Do not sell something that is measured by measured, and weighed by weighed, unless it must be like (the same weight/size) and equally.’
• the word of God Exalted,

Allah has permitted trade and prohibited usury

“And Allah has permitted buying and selling and prohibited usury.” (QS. Al-Baqarah: 275)

This verse is a general verse, then it is excluded by the Prophet’s hadith which explains six types of usurious assets. So apart from these usurious assets, they are not included in usurious assets and the law does not apply.

There are several notes that argue against the second opinion [3]:

– If it is said that the verse of Surah Al-Baqarah specifically hasith about six types of ribawi assets, then this is not correct. Because there is not just one prohibited hadith, but there are several hadiths and their pronunciations are different.

Such as the ‘Ubadah hadith which mentions six types of usurious assets, some such as the Hadith of Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri which mentions gold and silver, some others have the ‘Umar hadith which only mentions four, and some others have a more general scope such as the Ma’mar hadith mentioned above. So the restriction on only six types was cancelled.

– Islamic law is a law full of wisdom and very caring advice his servants. So it would be very far to say that usurious assets are only limited to six commodities. For example, wheat; Does wheat only apply to countries whose staple food is wheat? So what about countries whose staple food is rice?

Gold, for example, does gold only apply to countries that transact with gold? So what about countries whose daily transactions are in coins? Is there no usury in him? If so, then there is no benefit from the prohibition of usury of course.

So the conclusion is that usury does not only apply to the six types of usurious assets. However, this also applies to other assets which of course have similarities ‘perfume and its use.

God bless.

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Depok, 28 Sha’ban 1447/ 16 February 2026

Writer: Muhammad Zia Abdurrofi

Article Muslim.or.id

Footnote:

[1] Syarah Ar-Raudhul Murbi’, matter. 453-454.

[2] Syarah Ar-Raudhul Murbi’, matter. 454 and Fiqhul Muamalah Al-Maaliyah Al-Muyassarah, matter. 147.

[3] Summarized from Syarah Ar-Raudhul Murbi’, matter. 455.

Reference:

– Al-Musayqih, Khalid bin ‘Ali. Syarḥ Ar-Raudh al-Murbi’. Volume 6. 1st printing. Riyadh: Dar Rakaiz, 2022.

– Al-Muthiri, ‘Abdurrahman bin Hamud. Fiqh al-Mu’āmalāt al-Māliyah al-Muyassarah. 3rd printing. Kuwait: Imam Adz-Dzahabi Library, 2018.

– Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah. I’lām al-Muwaqqi’īn ‘an Rabb al-‘Ālamīn. Verification: Muhammad ‘Abdussalam Ibrahim. Volume 2. First printing. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1411 AH/1991 AD. Accessed via: app.turath.io.