{"id":263,"date":"2020-12-20T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-20T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iqralaan.wordpress.com\/?p=263"},"modified":"2022-12-30T09:27:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T05:27:30","slug":"welcome-friends-day-24-hq-2-275-282-pages-4748","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iqraprinciple.com\/ar\/welcome-friends-day-24-hq-2-275-282-pages-4748\/","title":{"rendered":"HQ 2: 275-282; pages 47+48"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome Friends:  Ahlan wa sahlan<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In yesterday\u2019s reading there was mention in verse 273 of people who deserve our help, those who are needy but cannot travel[1]<\/sup><\/a> or move freely to earn a livelihood. Because they abstain from asking, they seem well-off to the untrained eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People might be robbed of their land and livelihood, or lose it due to forces of nature; a person who believes in God would seek to mend such damage and help such victims even when they do not ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s reading continues, showing us how BEST to spend \u2018our\u2019 wealth and the resources we may \u2018control,\u2019 and gives us an ultimatum:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greed breeds catastrophe!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COMMENTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. \u201cThose who devour usury will not stand except as stands one by whom the Evil one has driven into madness\u2026\u201d<\/strong> Yusuf Ali.  \u201cThose who gorge themselves on usury behave as he might behave whom Satan has confounded with his touch\u2026\u201d <\/strong>Muhammad Asad.  <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If we read these verses 275-281 with a view to what is going on in the world today, we\u2019ll understand better the analogy of being, in effect, thumped down by the Deviant one- or trampled \u201c\u064a\u062a\u062e\u0628\u0637\u0647 \u0627\u0644\u0634\u064a\u0637\u0627\u0646\u201d [2]<\/sup><\/a> in a (vicious) manhandling \u201c\u0645\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0633\u2033.  This verse should be brought to people\u2019s attention, along with so many other verses that would, IF we had awareness\/taqwa, help us heal our world from the catastrophes that are \u2018thumping us down;\u2019 knocking us about; manhandling us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Usury is defined in English dictionaries as: \u201cThe practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, especially at an exorbitant or illegally high rate; an excessive or illegally high rate of interest charged on borrowed money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In Arabic, the word \u2018Riba\u2019 is from the root verb \u2018raba\u2019 which simply means to heighten something, to climb atop something.  This is quite significant, for the word \u2018Riba\u2019 on its own does NOT mean \u2018exorbitant or illegally high.\u2019  This is why other verses such as HQ: 3: 130 specify \u2018exorbitance,\u2019 adding two adjectives: (\u0623\u0636\u0639\u0627\u0641\u0627\u064b \u0645\u0636\u0627\u0639\u0641\u0629)\u2018multiplied and re-multiplied<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The lexicon of \u2018Lissanel Arab\u2019 below[3]<\/sup><\/a> explains the concept of \u2018Riba\u2019<\/em> as not being unlawful when loans are not conditional<\/em> upon greater returns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Both Yusuf Ali and Muhammmad Asad have good translations of this verse, as well as good arguments and notes that provide THEIR views on the entire subject of Usury.  In his note 324, Y. Ali condemns usury in the strongest possible terms, but states that the definition he would accept is \u201cundue profit made, not in the way of legitimate trade<\/em>\u201d\u2026.and he goes on to say that his definition \u201cwould exclude economic credit which is the creature of modern banking and finance.\u201d<\/em>  Many Muslim Jurists disagree, which is why we may NOT find all his notes intact in certain editions.[4]<\/sup><\/a>  As for Muhammad Asad, read his note 35, which takes us back chronologically to when the Qur\u2019an first spoke about \u2018riba,\u2019 in HQ: 30:39, (revealed before<\/em> HQ 2:275), the verse discusses making an increase out of \u2018other people\u2019s wealth.\u2019  In his note Asad tells us that \u201cIslamic scholars have not yet been able to reach an absolute agreement on the definition of \u2018riba\u2019<\/em>\u2026\u201d  It is important for us to remember that Yusuf Ali\u2019s translation was published in 1938, while Muhammad Asad\u2019s was published in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At any rate, the Qur\u2019an is absolutely clear on how Humanity should treat its children- we still remember the analogy in \u2018verse 2:266 of elderly parents suddenly seeing all the gardens and wealth they\u2019d left for their helpless children\u2026 going up in flames!\u00a0 Such is the compassion we should we feel towards one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n