The Characteristic of Riba Before the Emergence of Islam
Document Type : Research Paper
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Abstract
By the emergence of capitalistic economics and interest-based banking systems in the Islamic world, Muslim scholars get obliged to theorize the concept of Riba in a way to limit the borders of that for the sake of solving the problem of interest.
In this way, they made use of different justifications. One of them is the point that the prohibition of Riba in Islamic economic thought is just about that kind of Riba which was dominant before the emergence of Islam; and every scholar has considered his ideas about that kind of Riba.
Most of Muslim economists believe that all of the verses in Quran which are about Riba, are confined to the Riba prevalent in that time not all kinds of Riba. This is because of the fact that these verses have presupposed the meaning of Riba and continued to explain its results in this world and hereafter. So, any suggestion about this topic will depend on the kind of Riba prevalent before Islam.
This paper which is a theoretical one refers to the history, Tafsir, Hadith and Figh to analyze the nature of Riba before the emergence of Islam. Our hypothesis is: Riba before the emergence of Islam was sometime to add to the principal, sometimes to postpone the deadline of the debt, and sometimes to receive more in a borrowing. Considering its application, it was sometimes for consumption and sometimes for investment purposes. And finally considering its rates, it was sometimes with low interest and sometimes with high ones.
After the emergence of Islam, Riba was prevalent in different forms. Understanding these forms will help us to understand the verses better and be able to find the Ahkam in a more accurate way.
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