Usury in Scriptures: The Case of the Qur’an

The spread of Islamic financial institutions and the adoption of their practices as alternatives to traditional banking and finance systems throughout the world have drawn increased interest in the academic pursuits of economists and religious academics alike. The justification for the establishment...

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Main Author: Halil Şimşek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istanbul University Press 2023-01-01
Series:İktisat Politikası Araştırmaları Dergisi
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/8B5CD4D1CAE24B05B9512CAFA5343E5F
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author Halil Şimşek
author_facet Halil Şimşek
author_sort Halil Şimşek
collection DOAJ
description The spread of Islamic financial institutions and the adoption of their practices as alternatives to traditional banking and finance systems throughout the world have drawn increased interest in the academic pursuits of economists and religious academics alike. The justification for the establishment and promotion of such institutions and practices is formulated as follows: conventional financial systems violate Islamic bounds, and as a corollary, observant Muslims are unable to benefit from traditional financial products. As a result, alternative Islamic financing systems have emerged, with products claiming to comply with Islamic religious edicts. Islamic religious prohibitions that invalidate certain economic activities can almost always be predicated on two foundational principles: ribā (loosely rendered as either financial interest and/or usury) and gharar (also loosely rendered as deception), where the former denotes unlawful and excessive gain at the expense of a party’s disadvantage in a given transaction, and the latter refers to the uncertainties that result in unbearable risks and deceptions. The current research focuses solely on the former, as Islam’s holy scripture, the Qur’ān addressed it. Despite the fact that considerable ink has been spent on the matter of financial interest in Islam, there still seems to be confusion and indifference over how differently the subject is addressed in scriptural and prophetic sources. As a result, the researchers intend to confine the scope of their study to investigating what riba practice was like during the revelation of the Qur’an and how the Qur’an presents the concept of riba.
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series İktisat Politikası Araştırmaları Dergisi
spelling doaj-art-5b6279fe4afb455686ddbb42ce584ae62025-08-20T03:52:48ZengIstanbul University Pressİktisat Politikası Araştırmaları Dergisi2148-38762023-01-0110126127910.26650/JEPR122449123456Usury in Scriptures: The Case of the Qur’anHalil Şimşek0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3990-1071Ankara Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi, Ankara, TurkiyeThe spread of Islamic financial institutions and the adoption of their practices as alternatives to traditional banking and finance systems throughout the world have drawn increased interest in the academic pursuits of economists and religious academics alike. The justification for the establishment and promotion of such institutions and practices is formulated as follows: conventional financial systems violate Islamic bounds, and as a corollary, observant Muslims are unable to benefit from traditional financial products. As a result, alternative Islamic financing systems have emerged, with products claiming to comply with Islamic religious edicts. Islamic religious prohibitions that invalidate certain economic activities can almost always be predicated on two foundational principles: ribā (loosely rendered as either financial interest and/or usury) and gharar (also loosely rendered as deception), where the former denotes unlawful and excessive gain at the expense of a party’s disadvantage in a given transaction, and the latter refers to the uncertainties that result in unbearable risks and deceptions. The current research focuses solely on the former, as Islam’s holy scripture, the Qur’ān addressed it. Despite the fact that considerable ink has been spent on the matter of financial interest in Islam, there still seems to be confusion and indifference over how differently the subject is addressed in scriptural and prophetic sources. As a result, the researchers intend to confine the scope of their study to investigating what riba practice was like during the revelation of the Qur’an and how the Qur’an presents the concept of riba.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/8B5CD4D1CAE24B05B9512CAFA5343E5Fusuryinterestqur’ānislamic financeribā
spellingShingle Halil Şimşek
Usury in Scriptures: The Case of the Qur’an
İktisat Politikası Araştırmaları Dergisi
usury
interest
qur’ān
islamic finance
ribā
title Usury in Scriptures: The Case of the Qur’an
title_full Usury in Scriptures: The Case of the Qur’an
title_fullStr Usury in Scriptures: The Case of the Qur’an
title_full_unstemmed Usury in Scriptures: The Case of the Qur’an
title_short Usury in Scriptures: The Case of the Qur’an
title_sort usury in scriptures the case of the qur an
topic usury
interest
qur’ān
islamic finance
ribā
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/8B5CD4D1CAE24B05B9512CAFA5343E5F
work_keys_str_mv AT halilsimsek usuryinscripturesthecaseofthequran