Jawab al-Istifta an Haqiqat al-Riba - within Athar al-Muallimi

Jawab al-Istifta 'an Haqiqat al-Riba (Response to the Inquiry on the Reality of Usury) is a legal treatise written by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (1313–1386 AH / 1894–1966 CE) to address and refute modern arguments permitting interest-bearing loan transactions (riba al-qard) Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.

Background and Composition

The treatise was prompted by a pamphlet titled al-Istifta fi Haqiqat al-Riba (The Legal Inquiry into the Reality of Usury), published in 1347 AH (1928–1929 CE) by an author in Hyderabad, India, who argued for the permissibility of interest on loans Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. The administration of Mashyakhat al-Islam in Hyderabad circulated the inquiry to scholars across various regions for their legal evaluations Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.

Al-Muallimi initially discussed the matter directly with the author and contemplated writing a rebuttal, but deferred when responses arrived from other scholars—most notably Kashf al-Duja 'an Wajh al-Riba by Ashraf Ali al-Thanawi (d. 1362 AH), which was drafted under his supervision by Zafar Ahmad al-Thanawi Jawab al-Istifta an Haqiq…+1. However, after identifying deeper subtleties regarding the rulings and underlying legal wisdoms of usury, particularly after reviewing the legal theory of al-Shatibi in al-Muwafaqat, al-Muallimi decided to pen his own comprehensive response Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.

Structure and Contents

Al-Muallimi structured the work into two primary sections Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1:

• Section One: Rulings and Categories of Riba: This section examines the reality of usury, its fundamental differences from valid sales (bay'), and the wisdom of its prohibition Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. Al-Muallimi responds to claims that interest is justified by mutual consent or reciprocal economic benefit, detailing the societal harms (mafasid) of usury and how prohibiting it encourages productive economic activity Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…. He also addresses related transactions, including bay' al-'inah, utilizing pledged collateral (bay' al-wafa' or bay' al-'uhdah), usury in trade (riba al-buyu'), the effective legal causes ('ilal) regarding gold, silver, and the four commodities, and concludes with a dedicated discussion showing how usury and hoarding (ihtikar) mutually reinforce economic injustice Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y….

• Section Two: Rebuttal of the Inquiry: This section is structured around refuting the four central propositions advanced by the author of al-Istifta Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1:

  1. The claim that the prohibition of usury in the Quran is textually ambiguous (mujmal) Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.
  2. The claim that the prophetic Sunnah defined usury solely in commercial sales (such as the hadith of Ubadah ibn al-Samit) and in pre-Islamic debt deferrals, excluding standard loans (qard) from the prohibition Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.
  3. The claim that stipulated benefit in a loan is not explicitly prohibited by primary texts Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.
  4. The claim that stipulated benefit cannot be analogized to explicit usury, and that even if analogy applied, analogical rulings must change according to modern necessity Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.

Al-Muallimi systematically deconstructs each of these arguments using textual evidence, legal maxims, and consensus (ijma'), demonstrating the invalidity of distinguishing modern interest from textual usury Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.

Manuscripts and Publication

The treatise survived in two autograph notebooks preserved in the Library of the Holy Mosque in Mecca (Maktabat al-Haram al-Makki, under shelf marks 4244 and 4686), with parts of the opening leaves suffering damage and water staining Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…. It was subsequently edited by Muhammad Uzayr Shams and published within the legal volumes of Athar al-Muallimi Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.