to repudiate the transaction and recant; and if he persists, he should be put to death. Others consider it sufficient to imprison such people and keep them in prison until they pledge to give up charging interest.
101 This verse is the basis of the Islamic regulation that if a person is incapable of paying off his debt, the court will force the creditors to grant him respite from payment. In fact, under certain circumstances, the court is entitled to remit a part of his debt and, in some cases, the whole of it. Muslim jurists have made it clear that a debtor’s residential house, eating utensils, clothes and the tools which he uses for earning his livelihood may not be confiscated in any circumstance whatsoever for non-payment of loans.
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Al-Baqarah 2: 282
(282) Believers! Whenever you contract a debt from one another for a known term,102 commit it to writing. Let a scribe write it down between you justly, and the scribe may not refuse to write it down according to what Allah has taught him; so let him write, and let the debtor dictate; and let him fear Allah, his Lord, and curtail no part of it. If the debtor be feeble-minded, weak, or incapable of dictating, let his guardian dictate equitably, and call upon two of your men as witnesses; but if two men are not there, then let there be one man and two women as witnesses from among those acceptable to you so that if one of the two women should fail to remember, the other might remind her. Let not the witnesses refuse when they are summoned (to give evidence). Do not show slack- ness in writing down the transaction, whether small or large, along with the term of its payment. ▶
102 This is the basis of the rule that the time for the repayment of a loan should be fixed at the time when the loan is transacted.
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Al-Baqarah 2: 283
That is fairest in the sight of Allah; it is best for testimony and is more likely to exclude all doubts. If it be a matter of buying and selling on the spot, it is not blameworthy if you do not write it down; but do take witnesses when you settle commercial transactions with one another. And the scribe or the witness may be done no harm. It will be sinful if you do so. Beware of the wrath of Allah. He teaches you the Right Way and has full knowledge of everything.
(283) And if you are on a journey and do not find a scribe to write the document then resort to taking pledges in hand.103
But if any of you trusts another, let him who is trusted, fulfil the trust and fear Allah, his Lord.
And do not conceal what you have witnessed, for who- ever conceals it, his heart is sinful. ▶
103 It should also be noted that the purpose of taking a pledge is merely to assure the lender the return of his loan. He has no right at all to benefit from the pledged property. If, however, either cattle or beasts of burden have been pledged, they can be milked and used for transport in lieu of the fodder that one provides them during the period of custody.
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Al-Baqarah 2: 284–6
Allah has full knowledge of all that you do.
(284) All that is in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. Whether you disclose whatever is in your hearts or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it, and will then forgive whomsoever He wills, and will chastise whomsoever He wills. Allah has power over everything.
(285) The Messenger be- lieves, and so do the believers, in the guidance sent down upon him from his Lord: each of them believes in Allah, and in His angels, and in His Books, and in His Messengers. They say: “We make no distinction between any of His Messengers. We hear and obey. Our Lord! Grant us Your forgiveness; to You we are destined to return.”
(286) Allah does not lay a re- sponsibility on anyone beyond his capacity. In his favour shall be whatever good each one does, and against him what- ever evil he does.
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Al-Baqarah 2: 286
(Believers! Pray thus to your Lord): “Our Lord! Take us not to task if we forget or commit mistakes. Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden such as You laid on those gone before us. Our Lord! Lay not on us burdens which we do not have the power to bear. And overlook our faults, and forgive us, and have mercy upon us. You are our Guardian; so grant us victory against the unbelieving folk.”
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Al [Imran 3: 1–6
(The House of [Imran)
(Madinan Period)
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.
(1) Alif, Lam, Mim. (2) Allah, the Ever-Living, the Self- Subsisting, Who sustains the entire order of the Universe – there is no god but He.
(3) He has revealed this Book to you, setting forth the Truth and confirming the earlier Books, and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel (4) before that for the guidance of mankind; and He has also revealed the Criterion (to distinguish the Truth from falsehood). A severe chastise- ment lies in store for those who deny the Signs of Allah. Allah is All-Mighty; He is the Lord of Retribution.
(5) Nothing in the earth and in the heavens is hidden from Allah. (6) It is He Who fashions you in the wombs as He wills. There is no god but He; the All- Mighty, the All-Wise. ▶
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Al [Imran 3: 7
(7) He it is Who has revealed the Book to you. Among them there are absolutely clear and lucid verses,1 and these are the core of the Book. Others are ambiguous.2 Those in whose hearts there is perversity, go about the part that is ambigu- ous, seeking mischief and seeking to arrive at its meaning arbitrarily, although none knows their true meaning but Allah. But those firmly rooted in knowledge say: ▶
1 The muhkam verses mentioned here are those Qur’anic verses which are embodied in clear and lucid
