Riba is Haram Any Way You Look at it

In response to this sweeping claim, we should first state the fact that the current banking transactions are not different from the prohibited Riba transactions. Further, Allah sent Muhammad as the Final Messenger from Him, and required all mankind, starting with the Prophet’s contemporaries up until the Day of Judgment, to implement His Commandments that He revealed to His Messenger, salla allahu `alaihi wa-sallam. Therefore, all new types of dealings should carry the same rulings as old types of dealings, as long as both types are essentially the same. We must also state that having different names does not change the true reality of these dealings. What matters, is the true substance and the true essence of these types of dealings.

Further, it is a well-known fact that the aims and goals of those who indulged in Riba in the past are similar to the aims of those who indulge in Riba in the present time, even though they changed the names of the transactions they use. Hence, differentiating between the old types of business transactions and the new ones, because of the different names and styles, while disregarding the aims and goals behind such transactions, is indeed a misguided method. For example, the Prophet, peace be upon him, considered the request of those who said, during the battle of `Hunain, “Make for us a Dhat-Anwat1 as they (disbelievers) have Dhat-Anwat,” similar to what the Children of Israel said to Prophet Moses, peace be upon him,

 اجْعَلْ لَنَا إِلَهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ 

{“Make for us an ilahan (a god) as they have aliha (gods)”}[7:138]. The Prophet, salla allahu `alaihi wa-sallam, did not consider the difference in the words whereas the true essence was still the same. For instance, Allah, the Exalted, punished the Jews when they set up their nets on Fridays so that the nets catch fish on Saturdays, during which they were prohibited to fish. Allah did not excuse the Jews for this deviant behavior, even though the Jews collected the fish on Sundays. The aims were the same, even though the means and methods to reach these aims varied. There are many other similar examples in the Quran and Sunnah.

By: Shaikh: Abdul ‘Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz