(Series of Answers by the Scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of the Visitors to His Facebook Page)
Answer to a Question: The Consumer of Riba
To: Adi Victoria
Question:
As-Salamu Alaikum.
Our beloved Ameer, allow me to ask a question regarding riba.
Does the consumer of riba abide in the Hellfire eternally or not?
As mentioned in the book At-Taysir fi Usul at-Tafsir regarding the explanation of Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 275.
Thank you, brother. My name is Adi Victoria from Samarinda, Indonesia.
Answer:
Wa Alaikum As-Salam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
The one who deals with riba is of two types:
First: A type who believes that riba is haram (prohibited) but nevertheless engages in it. This person is a perpetrator of a major sin (ma’siyah kabirah). He is subject to a punishment in this world by the Khilafah State. If he is not punished with the Shari’ah punishment in this world, then he faces punishment in the Hereafter. He will enter the Fire but will not abide in it eternally as long as he did not deem riba to be halal (permissible); meaning, he believed that riba was prohibited but committed that sin. A sinner, if he dies upon Islam, does not remain in the Fire eternally, according to the saying of the Messenger of Allah (saw) in the agreed-upon Hadith narrated by Anas bin Malik that the Prophet (saw) said:
يَخْرُجُ مِنَ النَّارِ مَنْ قَالَ: لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ...
"There will come out of the Fire whoever said: 'There is no god but Allah'..." (Agreed upon)
Meaning, he does not abide therein eternally.
Second: A type who deems riba to be halal (permissible)—meaning he says that riba is permissible—and dies upon that belief. This person is a kafir (disbeliever) because he denied what is "known from the religion by necessity" (ma’lum min ad-din bi ad-darurah). Riba is prohibited in the Quran by verses that are definitive in their authenticity (qati’i ath-thubut) and definitive in their meaning (qati’i ad-dalalah). So, whoever deems riba permissible and dies upon that is a disbeliever and will abide in the Fire eternally. That is, the one who deals in riba and denies that riba is haram dies in disbelief and remains in the Fire forever.
The evidence for this is the saying of Allah (swt) in Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 275:
الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَا لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ مِثْلُ الرِّبَا وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا فَمَنْ جَاءَهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ فَانْتَهَى فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُون
"Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, 'Trade is [just] like interest.' But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah. But whoever returns to [dealing in interest or usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein." (Surah Al-Baqarah [2]: 275)
The end of the verse came as a commentary on those who "said, 'Trade is [just] like interest'", meaning they made riba permissible like trade, thus disbelieving in His saying: "But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest". These people, if they are informed that riba is haram and not halal, and then they believe, repent, leave the dealing in riba, and suffice themselves with their capital, then Allah (swt), by His grace and favor, forgives them for what has passed. However, if they insist that riba is halal and continue in riba, denying the saying of Allah (swt): "But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest", and they die upon that, then these are "the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein."
The summary understood from the Shari’ah texts is:
Whoever commits riba while believing it is haram is a sinful transgressor (fasiq). If he dies upon Islam, he does not abide in the Fire eternally; rather, he is punished as long as Allah wills, then he comes out of the Fire by the permission of Allah (swt).
Whoever commits riba while denying that it is haram—meaning he deems it permissible—and dies upon that, then he has died upon disbelief and will abide in the Fire eternally.
May Allah (swt) make us among the sincere believers who prohibit what Allah has prohibited and permit what Allah has permitted, and who adhere to the Shari’ah rulings as they are. Those whom Allah honors with Islam in this world, granting them victory over their enemies, and honors with Islam in the Hereafter, admitting them into His Gardens, and gathering them with the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the righteous—and what excellent companions these are.
Your brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
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