gateway to islamic finance interview - Institute of Islamic Banking ...

INTERVIEW
NEWHORIZON July–September 2008
what the most likely financial practice was
at the time of the revelation of the Quran.
They have tried to connect all the
prohibitions of riba to those perceived
financial practices, on which ironically there
is no historical agreement. There is complete
disagreement as to what those financial
practices were. Once you take a contextual
approach, it becomes very shallow, and you
completely ignore the deeper philosophical,
metaphysical and theological aspects behind
these divine injunctions.
It is generally characteristic of the tendency
among interpreters of the Quran to shun
philosophy. That attitude has in my opinion
contributed to shutting out this whole field
of philosophical thought which is behind
the Hadith. The Quran invites scholars to
reflect on it. Scholars should interpret it and
benefit from it.
What is the wider impact of your definition
on your beliefs?
Interest or usury is only one instance of
riba. There is a Prophetic saying which
states that there are 72 chapters of riba.
The financial definition is only one of them.
There are therefore multiple, even if the
number 72 is used figuratively, applications
of riba in human behaviour. But there is
also the act of bay’. This is a bilateral
exchange of give and take. Procreation is an
act of bay’, because it takes place between
two opposite agents, male and female. The
Quran is replete with assertions that
humanity, indeed everything, is created in
pairs, and invites man to reflect on it.
The Quran says Allah has prohibited riba
and permitted bay’ (2:275). This provides a
very golden rule of human behaviour.
angels are all models of singularity. The
introduction of duality came in the form of
Adam and Eve, or riba and bay’. God
created them to see how interactively they
behaved on this planet while they are here,
and forbids that they indulge in any activity
of singularity, which even smells of divinity.
God created humanity to test the duality
model on this earth, with the full interplay
of free will. The very first sin of riba was
committed in the Garden of Eden where,
prompted by Satan, Eve and then Adam
transgressed by tasting the fruit of the
forbidden (sacred, out of bounds) ‘Tree of
Eternity’. Consequently, humanity was
consigned to this earth to prove that even
under divinely granted free will it can shun
riba and practice bay’ in order to eventually
regain eternal entry into the Garden of
Eden. This explanation makes my thesis the
Grand Unifying Theory of religion.
How has your theory been criticised?
The entire effort on my part has been to
give hermeneutical balance between the
enormity of the sin and the severity of the
punishment for committing the act of riba.
The only concept which balances the sin
and the prescribed punishment is that riba
is a transgression into the divine domain.
The implication is that anyone indulging in
riba is not a monotheist, as they are
transgressing in the divine domain. The
question I get asked is, are you accusing us
of being polytheists or idolaters? This is a
delicate question. But a distinction has to be
drawn between the act itself and the actor.
My whole thesis is, the act of riba itself is
an act of denial of monotheism. But this
doesn’t mean anybody indulging in it is a
polytheist. He has his own set of beliefs.
Any believing monotheist would never
knowingly do it, and now he is being told,
‘do not do this because it is an act of
polytheism’. I’m not passing judgment. I’m
just a researcher who has come up with this
explanation. I repeat, the important thing is
to distinguish between the act and the actor.
None of the scholars have really gone into the depths
of the issue as to what the real meaning of ‘riba’ is...
Stay away from intra-action or self
generation, and indulge in interaction. Bay’
is the mother of all contracts in Islamic law.
The contract of marriage is also the contract
of bay’. Bay’ leads to trade, and because of
this, Islam is a champion of business and
commerce. The Prophet himself was a
trader. The Quran is replete with
commercial terms. There is nothing wrong
with business and trade, and the only thing
Allah demands you stay away from is self
generation, in addition to certain named
products. Once you do that the whole
subject will become very easy to operate.
And once you start thinking along these lines
– that there exist two injunctions, stay away
from riba and indulge in bay’ – the whole
field of human life becomes clearer, as to
what you are supposed to do in this world.
It explains the purpose of human creation
itself. Before the creation of humanity,
singularity prevailed. God, Satan and the
12 IIBI www.newhorizon-islamicbanking.com