Is interest (ribā) haram? The classical view.

"Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated from the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, the 12th major sin, usury, usury or riba is a grave sin in Islam. It refers to the practice of charging excessive interest on loans which exploits the needy and leads to social injustice. The Quran explicitly condemns riba, stating, Those who consume interest cannot stand on the day of resurrection except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity."

"He was replaced by the roughness of the earth after the softness of his bedding, and the worms tore at him in his grave like tearing. The twenty-seventh major sin is engaging in usury, known as riba. Usury is the practice of charging excessive interest on loans, which is strictly prohibited in Islam. The Quran warns against this practice, stating, Those who consume interest cannot stand on the Day of Resurrection except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity."

"a man marrying his own mother. The greatest of usury is the extension of a man in the honor of his Muslim brother. This highlights the severity of usury. Anas reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, addressed the people and spoke about the grave nature of usury, saying, The dirham that a man consumes from usury is worse than committing thirty-six acts of fornication in Islam."

"Trade is just like interest. But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. This clear distinction emphasizes the moral and ethical implications of engaging in usurious practices. The Prophet Muhammad also warned against riba, saying, Allah has cursed the one who consumes riba, the one who pays it, the one who records it, and the two witnesses to it."

"For what you take from one known to have most of their wealth as definitely unlawful, is haram, prohibited, even if it could rarely be lawful, because it is the predominant assumption. Among purely haram is consuming endowments without the founder's conditions, such as attending schools for learning when not engaging in jurisprudence, and taking from vowed donations without meeting the claimed criteria involves consumption of haram. We have detailed the onsets of doubts regarding the lawful and unlawful in a separate book of the Revival of the Religious Sciences, so seek it, for knowledge and pursuit of the lawful is a duty upon every Muslim,"

"He explained: "These two abstained from what God made lawful and broke their fast on what He made unlawful, sitting together to consume the flesh of people." Anas reported that the Messenger of God preached about the grave nature of usury, stating: "A single dirham earned from usury weighs heavier in sin before God than thirty-six acts of fornication by a man. The gravest usury is violating the honor of a Muslim.""

"However, repentance from a sin while engaging in another unrelated to it and not of its kind is valid. For example, if someone repents from usury but does not repent from drinking alcohol, his repentance from usury is valid. But if he repents from one type of usury and not another, or if he repents from consuming hashish while persisting in drinking alcohol, his repentance is not valid."

"It is clever in worldly matters, but its harm in the Hereafter is greater than any sin. Such is harmful knowledge. Regarding halal and haram, piety from haram is part of religion, existing in four levels. The first level of piety is required for judicial integrity, and neglecting it disqualifies a person from testifying, judging, and holding authority. It involves avoiding clear haram."

"When the moon of Ramadan appears, drums and trumpets are sounded at the emir of Mecca's presence. The Haram mosque is celebrated by renewing carpets and adding many candles and torches, brightening it with splendor. The imams, being Shafis, Hanbalis, Hanafis, and Zaidis, separate, while the Malikis group with four readers taking turns. They light candles. No corner of the Haram remains without a reader leading a congregation. The mosque echoes with their voices, moving hearts and filling them with emotion, eyes shedding tears. Some focus on circumambulation or pray individually in the stone enclosure. The Shafis are the most diligent, and their custom"

"and not giving it more importance than it deserves. Secondly, monitoring the source of income, avoiding pure haram wealth and wealth predominantly haram like that from rulers, and avoiding undesirable sources that damage decency, such as gifts with traces of bribery, or asking which involves humiliation and undermines respect. Thirdly, managing the amount earned, avoiding excess or insufficiency, but taking the required amount with need as the standard criterion, clothing, shelter, and nourishment. Each of these needs has three levels, lower, middle, and upper. As long as one remains inclined to the lesser degree and close"