Al-Baqarah: 275–276
"Those who consume usury..."
"Usury" (al-ribā): It is written with a wāw according to the dialect of those who pronounce it with emphasis (tafkhīm), just as al-ṣalāh (prayer) and al-zakāh (alms) are written. An alif was added after it, by analogy to the wāw of the plural.
"They do not stand..."
When they are resurrected from their graves.
"...except as stands the one whom Satan has smitten..."
Meaning: the one possessed by a demon (maṣrūʿ). The "smiting of Satan" is among the beliefs of the Arabs; they claim that Satan strikes a person, causing them to fall into a fit. Al-khabt (smiting) is striking without precision, like the "stumbling of the blind camel" (khabṭ al-ʿashwāʾ). Thus, it was revealed in accordance with what they believed. Possession (mass) is madness, and a man is said to be "possessed" (mamsūs); this is also among their beliefs—that a jinn touches him, causing his intellect to become confused. Similarly, when a man is said to be "jinn-struck" (junna), it means the jinn have struck him. I have seen that they have stories, reports, and wonders regarding the jinn, and denying this among them is like denying what is witnessed with one's own eyes.
If you ask: To what does the phrase "from the touch" (min al-mass) relate?
I say: It relates to "they do not stand," meaning: they do not stand up from the touch that is upon them, except as the possessed one stands. It is also permissible that it relates to "stands," meaning: just as the possessed one stands up from his madness. The meaning is that they will rise on the Day of Resurrection in a state of confusion, like those possessed; that is their mark by which they are known to the people at the gathering place.
It is said: Those who emerge from the graves will rush forth, except for the usurers; they will rise and fall like the possessed, because they consumed usury, so God caused it to grow in their bellies until it weighed them down, and they are unable to rush forth.
"That is..."
This punishment is because of their saying:
"...'Trade is just like usury.'"
If you ask: Why was it not said, "Usury is just like trade," since the discussion is about usury, not trade? It would have been necessary to say that they likened usury to trade to make it lawful. Their suspicion was that they said: "If a man buys something worth one dirham for two dirhams, it is permissible; therefore, if he sells one dirham for two, it is likewise."
I say: It is phrased this way by way of hyperbole. Their belief in the lawfulness of usury had reached such a point that they made it the foundation and the rule for lawfulness, to the extent that they likened trade to it.
His saying:
"...while God has permitted trade and forbidden usury."
This is a rejection of their equating the two, and an indication that a textual decree (naṣṣ) demolishes analogy (qiyās), for He made God’s permitting and forbidding the proof of the invalidity of their analogy.
"So whoever receives an admonition..."
Whoever receives a warning from God and a restraint through the prohibition of usury.
"...and desists..."
Follows the prohibition and refrains.
"...then he may keep what is past..."
He shall not be held accountable for what has passed, because he took it before the prohibition was revealed.
"...and his affair is with God."
He will judge his case on the Day of Resurrection, and no part of his affair is for you, so do not demand it from him.
"But whoever returns..."
To usury.
"...then those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally."
This is a clear proof for the eternal punishment of the wicked (fussāq).
The verb for "admonition" (mawʿiẓah) is masculine because its feminine form is not literal, and because it carries the meaning of "preaching" (waʿẓ). Ubayy and al-Hasan read: faman jāʾathu (feminine).
"God destroys usury..."
He removes its blessing and destroys the wealth into which it enters. From Ibn Masʿūd (may God be pleased with him): "Usury, even if it is much, leads to little."
"...and increases charities."
That which is given in charity is increased by doubling the reward, and the wealth from which the charity was taken is increased and blessed. In the Hadith: "Charity has never decreased wealth."
"...every ungrateful sinner."
This is an intensification regarding the matter of usury, and an announcement that it is the act of the disbelievers, not the act of the Muslims.
