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"The truthful and honest merchant will be with the Prophets, the truthful and the martyrs on the day of resurrection"
(Bukhari)

The final messenger of Islam, Mohammed

was a business man. A trader who often traveled to distant lands to sell and buy on behalf of others and also by himself. Amongst the people of his region he was known as Sadik ya Amin" which means "The honest and trustworthy". Allah has commanded all Muslims to speak the truth and always be honest in business dealings, weather dealing with Muslims or non-Muslims. In the Quran, He addresses humanity and commands people to give up petty disputes and fights and to form good will through mutual trade. He says:

Al-Quran, Chapter 4 An-Nisaa, Verse 29

In the Name of Allah, The Benevolent, The Merciful

O ye who believe! eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities: but let there be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good-will: nor kill or destroy yourselves: for verily Allah hath been to you Most Merciful.

Then again in another part of the Quran, Allah addresses humanity and instructs them to be fair in business dealings and not to rely upon espionage against others:

Al-Quran, Chapter 17 Al-Israa, Verse 35-36

In the Name of Allah, The Benevolent, The Merciful

Give full measure when ye measure and weigh with a balance that is straight: that is the most fitting and the most advantageous in the final determination.
And pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge; for every act of hearing or of seeing or of feeling in the heart will be enquired into on the Day of Reckoning.

Then is Chapter 28 we find the story of Prophet Shuaib

whose whole nation was involved in unfair business practices. Their Prophet warned them time and time again and tried to teach them fairness, however they did not listen. They would weigh less and indulge in fraud and of hoarding up of goods to influence prices. Their end was destruction because of their greed.

Everyone on this Earth must always remember that all that we have, belongs to God. It is God who has bestowed upon us our abilities and our possession. Often we think 'Oh but i worked hard for this myself', but then again question yourself 'who gave me this ability and strength to work hard in the first place?" Each person must be thankful to God for all they have and we must never forget that God is ever watchful and every act of ours is recorded and will be accounted for by us on the day of resurrection:

Al-Quran, Chapter 10 Yunus, Verse 61

In the Name of Allah, The Benevolent, The Merciful

In whatever business thou mayest be and whatever portion thou mayest be reciting from the Qur'an and whatever deed ye mankind may be doing We are Witnesses thereof when ye are deeply engrossed therein. Nor is hidden from thy Lord so much as the weight of an atom on the earth or in heaven. And not the least and not the greatest of these things but are recorded in a clear Record.

The Prophet Mohammed

instructed all Muslims to be gentle when selling. One day while sitting with his companions the Prophet

told the story of a man in the following words, "There was a man among the people who have gone by to whom the Angel came to take his soul. He was asked if he had done any good deed. He said, "I do not know." He was asked to think it over. He said, "I do not know of any good deed I may have done other than dealing gently and kindly in buying and selling transactions with other people. I allowed the rich time and let off the poor." Allah sent him to Paradise for that." (Bukhari & Muslim)

The Prophet

speaking about business once addressed the people and said, "The best of the incomes belongs to those merchants who do not lie when they speak, do not misappropriate when they hold trusts, do not betray their promises, do not blame the merchandise for defect when they buy, do not shower with praise when they sell, do not dilly-dally when they have to pay someone and do not browbeat one who has to pay them." (Bukhari)

The Prophet

also warned the people "He who adulterates while dealing with us is not one of us and those who cheat and act fraudulently will go to Hell" (Tabarani)

Buying, selling, lending, borrowing, witnessing or working or doing transactions which involve Riba (interest taking or giving)

All activities in Porn, prostitution, lewdness, strip clubs, pornographic magazines or books related businesses

Fraudulent deals, lying in business, covering up defects of goods, hiding facts in business deals

Stealing or spying on competitors (espionage) or carrying out harmful activities towards competitors

Selling, buying and production of drugs like heroine, marijuana, ecstasy, etc or related businesses. Dealing in pharmaceutical (medicine) drugs is allowed.

1 - Riba An-Nasia - Interest on lent money
2 - Riba Al-Fadl - Taking a superior thing of the same kind of goods by giving more of the same kind of goods of inferior quality, e.g.. dates of superior quality for dates of inferior quality in great amounts.

The definition of Interest, the literal meaning of interest or Al-Riba as it is used in the Arabic language means to excess or increase. In the Islamic terminology interest means effortless profit or that profit which comes free from compensation or that extra earning obtained that is free of exchange. Riba has been described as a loan with the condition that the borrower will return to the lender more than and better than the quantity borrowed.

As Muslims, our main concern when it comes to financial transactions is to avoid Riba in any of its forms, despite the fact that the basic foundation of the world economics and finance today is that of Riba and dealing in usury.

The Prophet has foretold us of a time when the spread of Riba would be so overwhelming that it would be extremely difficult for the Muslim to avoid it. This situation calls for Muslims to be extra cautious before deciding on what money payment of financial methods to use in any personal or business transaction. To make sure that we are safe from Riba, we have to learn which transactions lead to it.

In one of the Hadith we see a definition of interest to some extent when the Prophet

described what used to happen in pre Islamic eras: In the period of ignorance (pre-Islamic times) interest was charged according to the following scheme. One person had a right to the property of another person. It may have been a general right because of the amount lent or the price of something purchased or in any other form. A time was set when the claim would be settled. When the appointed time arrived the creditor would ask the debtor if he wanted to settle the claim or pay interest with an extension of time. If the claim was settled then there was no increase in the payment. Otherwise the debtor would increase the amount payable and the creditor would extend the period further.

Al-Quran, Chapter 2 Al-Baqara, Verse 275-281

In the Name of Allah, The Benevolent, The Merciful

Those who eat Ribâ (usury) will not stand on the Day of Resurrection except like the standing of a person beaten by Shaitân (Satan) leading him to insanity. That is because they say: "Trading is only like Ribâ (usury)," whereas Allâh has permitted trading and forbidden Ribâ (usury). So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating Ribâ (usury) shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allah to judge; but whoever returns [to Ribâ (usury), such are the dwellers of the Fire - they will abide therein.

Allah will destroy Ribâ (usury) and will give increase for Sadaqât (deeds of charity, alms, etc.) And Allah likes not the disbelievers, sinners.

Truly those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and perform As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and give Zakât, they will have their reward with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah and give up what remains due to you from Ribâ (usury) from now onward, if you are really believers.

And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger but if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly by asking more than your capital sums, and you shall not be dealt with unjustly by receiving less than your capital sums.

And if the debtor is in a hard time (has no money), then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay, but if you remit it by way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know.

And be afraid of the Day when you shall be brought back to Allah. Then every person shall be paid what he earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.

In a narration the Prophet told the people of the punishment of those who used to deal with interest on this earth in the following words, "There is a river of blood and a man was in it, and another man was standing at its bank with stones in front of him, facing the man standing in the river. Whenever the man in the river wanted to come out , the other one threw a stone in his mouth and caused him to retreat back into his original position. The Prophet was told that these people in this river of blood were people who dealt in Riba (usury). (Bukhari)

Again in the Quran Allah forbids interest dealings in the following glorious words,

Jabir r.a. has reported that the Messenger of Allah cursed the devourer of usury, its payer, its scribe and its two witnesses. He also said that they were equal (in sin). (Mishkat-ul-Masabih)

Abu Hurairah r.a. reported that the Prophet said : A time will certainly come over the people when none will remain who will not devour usury. If he does not devour it, its vapor will overtake him. [Ahmed,Abu Dawood,Nisai,Ibn Majah]

Abu Hurairah radiyallahu anhu reported that the Messenger of Allah said: I came across some people in the night in which I was taken to the heavens. Their stomachs were like houses wherein there were serpents, which could be seen from the front of the stomachs. I asked :O Gabriel! Who are these people? He replied these are those who devoured usury. [Ahmed,Ibn Majah]

Al-Khudri radiyallahu anhu reported that the Prophet said: Gold in exchange for gold, silver in exchange for silver, wheat in exchange for wheat, barley in exchange for barley, dates in exchange for dates, salt in exchange for salt is in the same category and (should be exchanged) hand to hand, so whoever adds or demands increase he has practiced usury. The giver and taker are the same.

After reading the above, it is apparent to us that interest is Haram (prohibited). How could anybody even take the time out to think about a matter in which Allah has declared war on the user and his Beloved Prophet has cursed him? As sensible people we can understand that what our Creator has chosen for us is for our own prosperity and benefit. Islam has encouraged men to earn their own provision and provide for their families. The condition is that the earning has to be according to the Shari’ah.