All of the Sahih hadith related to riba
What every Muslim needs to know about ribā
Everyone should know what the Prophet ﷺ said. These are all from Sahih hadith. As I have been extremely careful in this regard. I have summarized the rules derived from hadith on riba in this article. Regardless, I can make mistakes, so may Allah forgive me, as this is my best effort.
So far. this includes all of the sahih hadith related to riba found in six books, Muwatta of Imam Malik, and some others. But, this does not include every single hadith book ever as I am still waiting for the release of Jami Al Kamil. This article is a work in progress.
General hadith on riba
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the accepter of riba and its payer, and one who records it, and the two witnesses, and he said: “They are all equal.”
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah has cursed the one who consumes riba, its borrower, its witness, and its recorder. Riba and adultery do not become widespread among people but they will become vulnerable to the punishment of Allah Almighty.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Adultery and riba do not become prevalent among people but the punishment of Allah Almighty is justified against them.”
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Stay away from seven mortal sins.”
They said, “O Messenger of Allah, what are they?”
The Prophet ﷺ said,
To do shirk with Allah
To do Magic
To kill a soul that Allah has sanctified, except for a just cause
To consume riba
To take from an orphan’s property
To run away from the battle
To slander chaste, cautious, believing Muslim women
The Prophet ﷺ forbade the sale of blood, the sale of a dog, the one who takes riba, the one who pays riba, the woman who practices tattooing, and the woman who gets herself tattooed.
The Prophet ﷺ said,
“There is no one who deals in riba a great deal (to increase his wealth) but he will end up with little.”
The Prophet ﷺ said,
“The most prevalent kind of riba is going to lengths in talking unjustly against a Muslim's honor.”
I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say in the Farewell Hajj,
“Lo, all claims to riba of the pre-Islamic period have been abolished. You shall have your capital sums, deal not unjustly and you shall not be dealt with unjustly.”
“Lo, all claims to blood-vengeance belonging to the pre-Islamic period have been abolished. The first of those murdered among us whose blood-vengeance I remit is al-Harith bin Abdul-Muttalib, who suckled among Banu Layth and was killed by Hudhayl.”
He then said: “O Allah, have I conveyed the message?
They said: “Yes, saying it three times.”
He then said: “O Allah, be witness, saying it three times.”
Hadith that define riba
Riba is an unequal exchange of same currency
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“Gold is to be paid for by gold, silver by silver, wheat by wheat, barley by barley, dates by dates, and salt by salt, like for like and equal for equal, payment being made hand to hand. If these classes differ, then sell as you wish if payment is made hand to hand. Whoever gives more or asks for more has engaged in Riba. The receiver and the giver are equally guilty.”
Let dinar be exchanged for a dinar, with no addition on either side, and dirham be exchanged for a dirham with no addition on either side.
A necklace with gold and gems was brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Khayber, and it was one of the spoils of war and was put on sale. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The gold used in it should be separated” and then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ further said: “(Sell) gold for gold with equal weight.”
I bought on the day (of the Victory of Khayber) a necklace for twelve dinars (gold coins). It was made of gold studded with gems. I separated (gold from gems) in it, and found (gold) of more (worth) than twelve dinars. I made a mention of it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whereupon he said:
“It should not be sold unless it is separated.”
Once Bilal (R) brought dates to the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ asked him, “Where did you bring this from?”
Bilal (R) replied, “I had some inferior type of dates and exchanged two units of [inferior] dates for one unit of [fine] dates to give to the Prophet to eat.”
Thereupon the Prophet ﷺ said, “Beware! Beware! This is definitely riba! This is definitely riba! Don't do so, but if you want to buy (superior dates), sell the inferior dates for money, and then buy the superior dates with that money."
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ employed someone as a governor at Khaybar. When the man came to Madinah, he brought with him dates called Janib.
The Prophet ﷺ asked him, "Are all the dates of Khaybar of this kind?"
The man replied, "(No), we exchange two units of bad dates for one unit of this kind of dates [Janib], or exchange three units for two."
On that, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Don't do so, as it is a kind of riba but sell the dates of inferior quality for money, and then buy Janib with the money". The Prophet said the same thing about dates sold by weight.
Riba is fixing the price for a transaction, but delaying the exchange to a future date
“There is no riba except on deferred payment.”
“Gold for silver is riba unless it is exchanged on the spot.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the sale of silver for gold when payment is to be made in the future.
I once said: 'Who can change some Dirham?'
So Talhah bin Ubaidullah (R) — and he was with 'Umar bin Al-Khattab (R) — said: "Leave your gold with us, then return to us when our servant comes and we will give you your silver."
Umar bin Al-Khattab (R) said: "No! By Allah! Either give him his silver or return his gold to him. Indeed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Silver for gold is Riba, except for hand to hand. And wheat for wheat is Riba except for hand to hand; and barley for barley is Riba except hand to hand; and dried-dates for dried-dates is Riba except for hand to hand.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned the prohibition of (selling) gold for gold and silver for silver, unless it is equal amounts, like for like. And do not sell it in return for something to be paid later, and do not differentiate.
"Sharik sold some silver on credit for me. He came to me and told me. And I said: 'This is not correct.'
He said, “By Allah, I did this transaction in the market and no one criticized me.” So I went to Al-Bara bin Azib (R) and asked him about that. He said:
'The Prophet ﷺ came to us in Madinah and we used to do this kind of transaction, but he said: Whatever is hand to hand, there is nothing wrong with it, but whatever is on credit, is Riba.”
Then Al-Bara (R) said to me: “Go to Zayd bin Arqam (R).” So I went to him and asked him, and he said the same thing."
“I asked Al-Bara bin 'Azib (R) and Zayd bin Arqam (R) and they said: 'We were merchants at the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and we asked the Prophet of Allah ﷺ about money exchange.
He said: “If it is done hand to hand there is nothing wrong with it, but if it is done on credit then it is not right.”
The Prophet ﷺ forbade selling animals for animals when payment was to be made at a later date.
Abdullah bin Salam (R) viewed riba as the lender benefiting from a loan in any way
Abdullah bin Salam (R) said, "You are in a country where the practice of riba is prevalent; so if somebody owes you something and he sends you a gift of a load of chopped straw or a load of barley or a load of provender then do not take it, as it is riba."
Hadith that explain the laws in transactions to prevent riba
If you don’t own it, you can’t sell it
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“It is not permissible to sell something that you do not have, nor to profit from what you do not possess.”
If you don’t possess it, you can’t sell it
The Prophet ﷺ said,
"He who buys foodstuff should not sell it till he has received it."
Hakim asked: “Oh Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a man comes to me and wants me to sell him something which is not in my possession. Should I buy it for him from the market?
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Do not sell what you do not possess.
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“When you purchase food grains, do not sell them until you have taken possession of them.”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade selling food before measuring it and taking possession of it.
I asked Ibn `Abbas (R), “Why is that?”
Ibn `Abbas (R) replied, “It will be just like selling money for money, as the foodstuff has not been handed over to the first purchaser who is the present seller.”
Abu Huraira (R) said to [Caliph] Marwan: Have you allowed the transactions involving riba?
Thereupon Marwan said: I have not done that.
Thereupon Abu Huraira (R) said: You allowed transactions with the help of documents only, whereas the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the transaction of food grains until full possession is taken of them.
Marwan then addressed the people and forbade them to enter into such transactions (as are done with the help of documents). Sulaiman said: I saw the officers snatching (these documents) from the people.
Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that receipts were given to people in the time of Marwan bin al-Hakam for the produce of the market at al-Jar. People bought and sold the receipts among themselves before they took delivery of the goods. Zayd Thabit (R) and one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, went to Marwan bin al-Hakam and said, “Marwan! Did you make riba halal?”
He said, “I seek refuge with Allah! What is that?”
He said, “These receipts which people buy and sell before they take delivery of the goods.”
Marwan therefore sent a guard to follow them to take them from people's hands and return them to their owners.
If you are selling, you can’t re-sell it at same place and time where you bought it
Ibn `Umar (R) told us that the people used to buy food from the caravans in the lifetime of the Prophet.
The Prophet ﷺ used to forbid them to sell it at the very place where they had purchased it (but they were to wait) till they carried it to the market where foodstuff was sold.
Ibn `Umar (R) said, “The Prophet ﷺ also forbade the reselling of foodstuff by somebody who had bought it unless he had received it with exact full measure.”
Abdullah bin Umar (R) said, “During the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ we used to buy food, and the [Messenger of Allah ﷺ] sent someone to tell us to remove it from the place where we had bought it, to another place, before selling”
A Companion (R) said, “I saw people being beaten (in punishment) at the time of the Messenger of Allah for buying food unmeasured and selling it before bringing it to their camp.”
Abdullah bin Umar (R) said,
“I bought some oil in the market and when I had taken it (from the seller), a man met me and offered to give me a good profit for it. Then, when I was about to finalize the deal with him, a man caught hold of my forearm from behind. So I turned and found that he was Zayd bin Thabit (R).
Zayd (R) said, “Do not sell it in the place where you have bought it, till you take it to your dwelling. This is because Allah's Messenger ﷺ forbade that commodities to be sold in the place where they were bought, till the traders take them to their dwellings.”
You can’t combine contracts
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“It is not permissible to lend on the condition of a sale, or to stipulate two conditions in one transaction, or to make a profit on that which you do not possess.”
In co-investments, you have to share losses
Abdullah bin Umar (R) said: “We used to lend land for cultivation in return for a share of the harvest, and we did not see anything wrong with that, until we heard Rafi' bin Khadij say: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade it.” Then we stopped because of what he said.”
Further explanation from the Prophet ﷺ
Rafi' b. Khadij said: We used to employ people to till land for a share of it produce. He then maintained that, one of his uncles came to him and said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade us from a work which beneficial to us. But obedience to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ is more beneficial to us.
We asked : What is that?
Rafi said, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“If anyone has land, he should cultivate it, or lend it to his brother for cultivation. He should not rent it for a third or a quarter (of the produce) or for specified among of produce.”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the renting of land. I said: Is it forbidden (even if it is paid) in gold (dinar) and silver (dirham)?
Thereupon he said: If it is paid in gold and silver, there is no harm in it.
Hadith on special sales transaction
Advance payment
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to Medina, they were paying one, two and three years in advance for fruits, so he said:
”Those who pay in advance for anything, must do for a specified measure and weight with a specified time fixed.”
Miraculous predictions of the Prophet
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“There will come a time when a man will not care where his wealth comes from, whether (the source is) Halal or Haram."
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“There will come a time when there will be no one left who does not consume Riba, and whoever does not consume it will nevertheless be affected by residue.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“When you enter into Bay’ al-‘Inah transactions, take hold of the tails of cattle and are content with farming [busy with making money], and you forsake Jihad;
Then Allah will cause humiliation to prevail over you, and will not withdraw it until you return to your religion.
Hadith on transactions, but not related to riba
You can’t withhold goods till prices rise
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “No one withholds goods till their price rises but a sinner.”
You can’t lie during transactions
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“There are three to whom Allah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection, or will He look at them, or sanctify them, and theirs will be a painful torment: Abu Dharr said:" May they be lost and doomed: He said: "The one who drags his Izar (below the ankles) the one who sells his product using false oaths, and the one who reminds others (Al-Mannan) of what he has given to them”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“Beware of taking oaths a great deal when selling, for it may help you to make a sale but it destroys the blessing.”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“There are three to whom Allah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection, or will He look at them, or sanctify them and theirs will be a painful torment: A man who has surplus water when traveling but he withholds it from a wayfarer; a man who swears allegiance to a leader for worldly gains, and if he gives him what he wants he is loyal to him but if he does not give him anything he is not loyal to him: and a man who sells a man his product after 'Asr, swearing by Allah that he bought it for such and such a price, and the other believes him.”
You can’t inflate auction prices with fake bids
The Prophet ﷺ forbade artificially inflating prices.
The word in this hadith is najash. In business terms, this means that a person bids up the price of an item, without the intention of buying it. This is commonly called “shill bidding” or “fake bid”. The word origins of najash implies, “he concealed himself”.
You can’t have transactions on unknown outcomes
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade Gharar and and Hasah transactions.
Do not sell fruits until their condition is known. And he forbade (both) the seller and the purchaser (to engage in such a transaction).
Do not sell fruits until their condition is known, and do not sell fresh dates (still on the tree) for dried dates.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade selling fruits before they ripen.
It was said: "O Messenger of Allah what does ripen mean?"
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “when they turn red." And he said, "What do you think if Allah withholds the fruits (causes it not to ripen), why would any one of you take his brother's wealth?"
Zayd bin Thabit (R) said: The people used to sell fruits before they were clearly in good condition. When the people cut off the fruits, and were demanded to pay the price, the buyer said: The fruits have been smitten by duman, qusham and murad fruit diseases on which they used to dispute. When their disputes which were brought to the Prophet ﷺ increased,
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them as an advice,
“No, do not sell fruits till they are in good condition, due to a large number of their disputes and differences.”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“If you sell fruits to your brother then the crop fails, it is not permissible for you it takes anything from him. Why would you take the wealth of your brother unlawfully?”
"The Messenger of Allah forbade Munabadhah and Mulamash. Mulamasah is when two men trade garments with each other under cover of night, each man touching the garment of the other with his hand. And Munabadhah is when one man throws a garment to another and the other throws a garment to him, and they trade them with each other in that manner."
You can’t cancel a transaction after separation, unless you have mutually agreed otherwise
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“The two parties to a transaction have the choice so long as they have not separated. If they are honest and open, their transaction will be blessed, but if they tell lies and conceal anything, the blessing of their transaction will be lost.”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“The two parties to a transaction both have the choice so long as they have not separated unless they have chosen to conclude the transaction. "
The narrator said: “When Abdullah bin Umar bought something he liked, he would leave straightaway.”
The Prophet ﷺ said,
No one of you should urge someone to cancel a sale he has already agreed upon with his brother so as to sell him his own goods
Begging is forbidden except in three cases
Qabisah ibn Mukhariq (R) reported: I was in debt so I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and I asked him about it.
The Prophet said, “Wait until we receive charity, then we will order it to be given to you.”
Then the Prophet said, “O Qabisah, begging is not lawful except for one of three cases:
A man who is in heavy debt, so asking others is permissible for him until he pays it, after which he must stop
A man whose property is destroyed by a calamity, so asking is permissible for him until he can support himself
And a man who is afflicted by poverty attested to by three astute members of his people, so asking is permissible for him until he can support himself.
O Qabisah, besides these three begging is forbidden and the beggar consumes what is forbidden.”
Debt causes you to tell lies and break promises
Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to invoke Allah in the salat saying, “O Allah, I seek refuge with you from all sins, and from being in debt.”
Someone said, “O Allah's Messenger ﷺ! You often seek refuge with Allah from being in debt.”
He replied, “If a person is in debt, he tells lies when he speaks, and breaks his promises when he promises.”
You can’t delay your debt repayment
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“It is unjust for a wealthy person to delay paying back his debts.”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
The Shaheed is forgiven for every sin except debt
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“Give the worker his wages before his sweat dries.”
We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah when he raised his head toward the sky, and put his palm on his forehead, then he said:
“SubhanAllah, what a stern warning has been revealed!”
We fell silent and were scared. The following day I asked him: “O Messenger of Allah, what is this stern warning that has been revealed?”
[Messenger of Allah ﷺ] said,
“By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if a man were to be killed in the cause of Allah then brought back to life, then killed, but he owed a debt, he would not enter paradise until his debt was paid off.”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“If one of you is referred to a rich man (to help repay a debt), he should accept that referral, and (wrongdoing) is when a rich man takes a long time to repay a debt.”
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ seeking the settlement of his loans, and he spoke harshly to him. This disturbed his Companions, but the Prophet ﷺ said, “Leave him, as the lender has the right to speak.”
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“There was a man who never did any good deed, but he used to lend to people and he would say to this messenger: “Take what can be paid easily and leave what is difficult, let them off, and perhaps Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, said to him: 'Did you ever do any good did? He said: No, but I had a slave and I used to lend to people. When I sent him to collect the debts I said to him: Take what can he paid easily and leave what is difficult; let them off, and perhaps Allah will let us off. Allah, the Most High, said: 'I have let you off.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not pray the funeral prayer over a person who died while still in debt. A dead Muslim was brought to him and he asked:
“Is there any debt due from him?
They said: “Yes, two dirhams.”
He said, “Pray yourselves over your companion.”
Then Abu Qatadah al-Ansari said, “I shall pay them, Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then prayed over him.
When Allah granted conquests to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he said, “I am nearer to every believer than himself, so if anyone (dies and) leaves a debt, I shall be responsible for paying it, and if anyone leaves property, it goes to his heirs.”
Best are those who are best in repaying their debts
A Bedouin said to the Prophet ﷺ, “Pay me back for my young camel, and he gave him an older (i.e., better) camel.”
He said: “O Messenger of Allah! It is older (i.e., better) than my camel.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The best of people are those who are best in repaying.”
You must inform and offer to co-owner before selling
Jabir (R) said,
“The Messenger of Allah ruled that pre-emption is to be given in everything that is shared in which the division is not clear, whether it is a house or a garden. It is not permissible to sell it before informing one's partner, who may take it or leave it, as he wishes. He (the share-owner) sells it without informing him, and then he has more right to it.”
Product should be available in the open market
Ibn `Abbas said, “The Prophet ﷺ forbade the meeting of caravans (on the way) and ordained that no townsman is permitted to sell things on behalf of a bedouin.”
I asked Ibn `Abbas, "What is the meaning of his saying, 'No townsman is permitted to sell things on behalf of a bedouin."
He replied, "He should not work as a broker for him."
Governments can’t fix prices
The people said: Messenger of Allah, prices have shot up, so fix prices for us. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Allah is the one Who fixes prices, Who withholds, gives lavishly and provides, and I hope that when I meet Allah, none of you will have any claim on me for an injustice regarding blood or property.
A free market can not exist with riba. When central banks use riba, they invariably end up fixing prices. Because they end up controlling demand to the point of manipulating the market entirely.
Hadith on Quran ayat related to riba
The last Verse revealed to the Prophet ﷺ was the Verse dealing with riba.
Aisha said “When the Verses at the end of Surat Al-Baqarah concerning riba were revealed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out and forbade dealing in wine.”
This is part of my series on Interest Free Zone: All of the Sahih hadith related to riba, A study of weak hadith on riba, Defining riba, A detailed breakdown on why Islamic mortgages are backdoor riba, Do credit card rewards programs have riba?, Madness on options riba
Related, I have a Riba and Ruin series: Economics is to keep you a dummy, What happened to SVB?, Ward of the State, First Republic: A tale of a fake bank & a fake auction, Hush, hush, a small bank goes poof
Related, I have a Selling Islam series: Salaried Shaykhs, Can paid Shaykhs make mistakes?
References
Usmani, T. (1998). An Introduction to Islamic Finance. https://www.alhilalsa.com/advisory/intro_islamic_finance.pdf
Ibn Adam, M. (n.d.). Attributing a sale to a future date. IslamQA. https://islamqa.org/hanafi/daruliftaa/8420/attributing-a-sale-to-a-future-date/