The Final Calls of Faith in Sūrat al-Baqara: The Prohibition of Usury and the Writing Down of Debt

Occasion: Transcription of an ʿIshāʾ khatira delivered on 3 May 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

He began with a supplication: O Allah, we ask You to grant us the faith with which we may meet You pure and unblemished; keep us firm on Your straight path as long as we live; do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us; and grant us mercy from Yourself, for You are the Bestower. Then he said:

Tonight, God willing, we conclude the calls to the believers in Sūrat al-Baqara, and we speak about the last call in it, in the saying of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا تَدَايَنتُم بِدَيْنٍ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُ وَلْيَكْتُب بَّيْنَكُمْ كَاتِبٌ بِالْعَدْلِ﴾ (O you who believe, when you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down; and let a scribe write it between you in justice), to the end of the blessed verse^[1].

The Qur'an Is One Fabric

When we go through a verse, we must follow the context in which it was revealed. With God's permission we will try to proceed in steps, among them what we have become accustomed to: connecting the verse to those before it, so that we understand that the Noble Qur'an is one fabric, aiming at an agreed purpose, intended by the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, drawn out for us so that we move within its framework and cannot step outside it in any way. When our Lord draws out this path for us, He places us on the straight path, which, if we walk it, we reach what we seek, and if we turn away from it, we are lost and we lose what is in our hands.

From the First Call to the Last

The first call in Sūrat al-Baqara was: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَقُولُوا رَاعِنَا وَقُولُوا انظُرْنَا وَاسْمَعُوا ۗ وَلِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ﴾ (O you who believe, do not say "Rāʿinā" but say "Unẓurnā," and listen; and for the disbelievers is a painful punishment). We have mentioned repeatedly that in this is a teaching for us to respect the reference point, indeed to hold it sacred. The community must have a reference point around which it revolves and from whose orbit it does not depart. When the bond of reference is sound in people's souls, they all move along one line with steady, confident steps; they do not deviate from it, and none of them suffers crookedness at any stage. All the people are tied to the same line, moving in the same direction, achieving the same accomplishments, along a straight line with no crookedness and no deviation. There is a way of dealing: if it is respected, the world is set straight, and if it is bent, the world is bent.

And so that we may be patient upon this way, the command of the Lord of the worlds came: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلَاةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ﴾ (O you who believe, seek help through patience and prayer; indeed, Allah is with the patient). We mentioned that patience in keeping to the way means challenging the human self first, for it is the first to want to depart from this way. So let no one say: it is my enemy lying in wait for me who wants to draw me out. Yes, that is so, but there is a call from within that summons what you have of desire and caprice; the two move together, dominate the mind and persuade it with the methods of corruption, so the mind turns, along with the self, into desire and caprice, and the human being leaves the straight path. For this reason came a kind of intensive binding to this regulator that ties you always to the origin: that you pray, not once a month, nor even once a day, but five times a day. It is as though the Lord of the worlds is telling me that, in proportion to what He knows of the self's attempt to slip loose, He restrains it with a restraint that is not merely continuous but multiplied. So He, glory be to Him, establishes for me this prayer by which I seek help for patience, the help sought for keeping to the commitment.

Food, Blood, and Wealth

The first thing we meet after holding the reference point sacred is making a living: earning money and seeking provision, as it is called. Then the Lord of the worlds teaches me: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ﴾ (O you who believe, eat from the good things We have provided for you); that is, do not eat like the rest of the people. For Allah commanded the rest of the people to eat from what is lawful, and that is the level of the common folk, whereas you are above this level; you do not eat only what is lawful along with the rest of creation, but you are higher than that and wiser. There is no morsel that enters the body without a particular thankfulness accompanying it toward the One who bestowed it, and no sip of water without the remembrance of Allah echoing with it throughout the body. So we do not merely seek out the means before acquiring provision and wealth; we seek out what is good in it, thanking our Lord for what He has bestowed on us.

Then if looseness occurs within people's lives and some transgress against others, there came the verse that regulates and protects, safeguarding people's honor and their blood: ﴿كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِصَاصُ فِي الْقَتْلَى﴾ (Retribution is prescribed for you in cases of murder). What is the significance of this verse? And what benefit follows from it? The benefit is the preservation of the blood of all creation. If a life is squandered or blood is shed, it stirs the instinct of revenge in the rest of the members of society; they respond to the killer by killing him, then he responds by killing some of them, then they respond by killing more, and this course circulates among the people; hence the verse came to protect the lives of the people. So: holding the reference point sacred, seeking help through patience and prayer, then eating what is good of food, then respecting the human structure that the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, built; for the human being is the building of Allah, and cursed is whoever demolishes the building of Allah^[2].

At that point we are ready to move together with Islam as a whole, not in fragments, so the saying of the Lord of the worlds comes: ﴿كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ﴾ (Fasting is prescribed for you), and the completion of purification, then ﴿ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ﴾ (Enter into peace completely, and do not follow the footsteps of Satan). At this stage we moved from laying the foundation to the stage of movement and building, and the first steps of building require sacrifice, and hence spending: ﴿أَنفِقُوا مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ﴾ (Spend from what We have provided you), ﴿لَا تُبْطِلُوا صَدَقَاتِكُم بِالْمَنِّ وَالْأَذَىٰ﴾ (Do not nullify your charities with reminders and injury), then ﴿أَنفِقُوا مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ﴾ (Spend from the good things you have earned). Then if you are a giver, nothing of sin should taint this giving, so the Lord of the worlds forbids us from consuming ribā. And this prohibition in itself, as we mentioned earlier, is a safeguarding of society's standing through its wealth, just as He safeguarded society through its blood; Islam protects the blood of creation and the wealth of the people, which are the two driving factors of the whole society in every time and place.

When Ribā Was Prohibited, the Door of Lending Was Opened

Then comes the verse in which the Lord of the worlds says: ﴿إِذَا تَدَايَنتُم بِدَيْنٍ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُ﴾ (When you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down). The first thing we meet in it is that when Allah the Exalted prohibited ribā, which is one of the means of circulating money in societies, where is the alternative? Ribā is a means of circulating money: I go to so-and-so, I want money, give me; he says: what will you repay? You repay it to me with an increase. I agree to the condition, I take the money from you and set out with it, I profit or I lose, he has no concern in that, I must return the money to him as agreed. So it is an attempt, or one form of setting money in motion. When Islam closed this door, my Lord, glory be to Him, opened for me the alternative door, which is the door of lending. So if I am in need, I am fully confident that the doors of the Muslims around me will not turn me away disappointed, God willing.

And when Allah legislates lending among the people, He obliges society to close the doors of ribā; because if the door of lending is closed, the door of ribā opens, for people are compelled. Hence Islam obliged the wealthy person to open a door of his wealth for lending, just as he opens doors for charity and doors for zakat. How many doors are open with the wealthy person? The first door is obligatory, and it is the door of zakat; he has no choice in it. Then the second door, which is the door of charity; is it obligatory, or recommended, or permissible? The ruling on it depends on the need of society, and on what follows from giving it or withholding it. If I know of a woman who, if I do not give charity to her from my wealth, which I earned by my Lord's permission and which is plentiful in my hands, may fall into sin or immorality, with the result that her condition and society's become corrupted; then who is the sinner first? The sinner first is the one who withheld from her the doors of provision. The point is that charity in this situation is binding upon the owners of wealth, given what follows from giving it or withholding it.

Another example: I have in the society where I live a gifted young man, poor, who has no money with which to study the field suited to his intelligence and mind, and who would one day return with his benefit to the whole society. Wasting this student's intelligence and standing affects the future of Islam and the Muslims, while I hold on to the money I have so that it grows in my treasuries and my balances increase with it! Then my Lord asks me on the Day of Resurrection: what did you do with the wealth you had? I say: my Lord, I saved it. How did you withhold it from Your servants? And here we come to the word of Allah: ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ الذَّهَبَ وَالْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ﴾ (And those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the cause of Allah, give them tidings of a painful punishment). It is said: what is meant here by «ولا ينفقونها في سبيل الله» ("and do not spend it in the cause of Allah") is that they did not pay its zakat. And I say that the other verse restricts the case: ﴿إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْعَامِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَالْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ﴾ (Charities are only for the poor and the needy, and those employed to collect them, and those whose hearts are to be reconciled). Does this verse speak about zakat, its recipients and those entitled to it? Then why did the Lord of the worlds open it with the word "charities" and the word "zakat" did not come, though it appears in other places in the Qur'an? And is a person compelled to give charity or to give zakat? Zakat; then how is it said to the Prophet: ﴿خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ﴾ (Take from their wealth), and He did not say "zakat" or "charity"? Because the expression accords with the situation, whether the situation of the giver or of the taker, and whether the other party is an individual, a group or a society, and situations bring reward and punishment according to their own measures.

So we arrive at this: when Allah, blessed and exalted, opened for me the door of lending among the people, it is as though it is a third door that must be open, not shut, with every wealthy person. So we have opened with the wealthy three doors: the first is the door of zakat, the second the door of charity, and the third the door of lending.

Allah's Honoring of His Believing Servants

And the matter is entirely settled, and so the call comes to the believers: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا﴾ (O you who believe), then the sentence comes: ﴿إِذَا تَدَايَنتُم﴾ (when you contract a debt), as though it were an accomplished fact. Here, look to what level your Lord, glory be to Him, honors His believing servants: He addresses them as though the matter were a settled occurrence, as though they would not even consider the question of whether to lend to people or not, but are already at "when you contract a debt." As in His saying: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَطَلِّقُوهُنَّ﴾ (O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them). Allahu akbar! Because it is something that occurs.

A Specified Term, Writing, and Respite Until Ease

So our Lord says: ﴿بِدَيْنٍ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُ﴾ (a debt for a specified term, write it down). I understood from the verse the matter of lending, and I understood another matter, which is the specified term; lending among people should not be open, unbound by time: when will this money be repaid? We have the matter of repayment at the proper time, and the other matter: ﴿فَنَظِرَةٌ إِلَىٰ مَيْسَرَةٍ﴾ (then a respite until a time of ease), which takes effect when the debtor is in difficulty over the payment, so then the creditor's intention is renewed, to extend this time seeking reward before Allah, blessed and exalted.

For this reason many scholars tell us that the reward of lending takes precedence over the reward of charity. Have you heard this before? How so? They answer that the one who gave charity gave something that left his heart and self, finished; but the one who lent still has his heart and self attached to the debt that so-and-so holds. So when I come to work out my accounts and I say: so-and-so owes this much, and so-and-so owes this much, my accounts include the total and I build upon it; and it is not even in my mind that these are lost debts. Therefore, if a person afterwards realizes that they are lost debts, other calculations follow from that, and we are speaking about the matter of paying zakat and lost debts, and so on.

The point is that I have an obligation of lending among the members of the Muslim society, as far as any of them is able to do so and the need for it is pressing; this door must remain present among the Muslims. The second matter: setting a time limit for repaying the debt so that life does not pass in a haphazard way. The third matter: ﴿فَاكْتُبُوهُ﴾ (write it down); so how does the matter of writing arise? The writing may take place as an actual written text as the Lord of the worlds wanted: ﴿فَلْيَكْتُبْ وَلْيُمْلِلِ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِ الْحَقُّ وَلْيَتَّقِ اللَّهَ رَبَّهُ وَلَا يَبْخَسْ مِنْهُ شَيْئًا ۚ فَإِن كَانَ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِ الْحَقُّ سَفِيهًا أَوْ ضَعِيفًا أَوْ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُ أَن يُمِلَّ هُوَ فَلْيُمْلِلْ وَلِيُّهُ﴾ (So let him write, and let the one who owes the debt dictate, and let him fear Allah, his Lord, and not diminish from it anything. But if the one who owes the debt is of limited understanding or weak or unable to dictate himself, then let his guardian dictate). This is a matter of a record, a session scribe, pens, ink, paper, writing, numbers and dates. But can something else take the place of this writing? By Allah, even a short email, or a text message; what matters is that the creditor has in hand something that convinces himself, when he looks at it, that he could take it to the judge one day.

The Close of the Verse: And Allah Teaches You

These are some words about this blessed verse, and you know that the discussion of it is very long, and that the discussion of the objections raised about it, from the testimony of the woman being half the testimony of the man, and what revolves around it, we will complete, God willing, in another place.

But Allah, blessed and exalted, closed this verse with a very wondrous closing, saying, glory be to Him: ﴿وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۖ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللَّهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾ (And fear Allah, and Allah teaches you; and Allah is Knowing of all things). How can you connect the matter of knowledge, learning and teaching from the Lord of the worlds with lending? It is as though the matter of lending, which is one form of accounting transactions within society, will be renewed from time to time; then someone comes and says: by Allah, there are new kinds of contracts, and there is financing, and such and such topics, so how do we understand this speech? ﴿وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ﴾.

I ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to establish His religion through us in the manner He willed, in the way He loves to meet from His righteous servants, and to keep us firm with the firm word in this worldly life and in the Hereafter.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The Qur'anic locations of what was cited: the last verse with which the khatira opens is Sūrat al-Baqara 282 (and its ending is from it); the first call is al-Baqara 104; "seek help through patience and prayer" al-Baqara 153; "eat from the good things" al-Baqara 172; retribution al-Baqara 178; fasting al-Baqara 183; "enter into peace completely" al-Baqara 208; spending, reminders and injury al-Baqara 254, 264 and 267; ribā al-Baqara 275–278 (the speaker's prohibition "do not consume ribā" is by meaning; the text "do not consume ribā" is in Āl ʿImrān 130, while the call in al-Baqara is in verse 278: "Fear Allah and give up what remains of ribā"); "a respite until a time of ease" al-Baqara 280; "those who hoard gold and silver" al-Tawba 34; "charities are only for" al-Tawba 60; "take from their wealth" al-Tawba 103; "when you divorce women" al-Ṭalāq 1. In the context of retribution the speaker mentioned the phrase "so that you may become God-fearing," which is in the verse on fasting, so it was not included in the body text. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The phrase "the human being is the building of Allah, cursed is whoever demolishes the building of Allah" appeared in the speaker's words without attribution; it has been left as it was said and its authenticity as a ḥadīth has not been verified.