Why does Islam forbid interest?

Because interest tempts people and nations to spend their future in the present. This leads to debt, crises and in the end to conflict and war.

At first sight interest seems harmless. You borrow money and pay back a little more. But a closer look shows what interest does to a society. It makes it easy to buy today what you can only pay for tomorrow. A society built on interest spends its future in the present.

An everyday example shows this. Someone takes out a loan for a new car or an expensive holiday. For years he pays not only the price but also the interest. What he will need to live on later, he has already spent. Whole nations fall into debt in the same way, often for things they do not really need.

When many people have already spent their future income, purchasing power falls. Goods go unsold, businesses get into trouble and an economic crisis follows. When several countries fall into such a crisis at once, the struggle for markets becomes ever harsher. In the end economic pressure can turn into hostility and even war.

Against this background it becomes clear why the Holy Qur’an speaks so seriously. According to the verse above, whoever does not give up interest is at war with Allah and His Messenger. Interest is therefore not a harmless business but a path that threatens peace in the world.

Islam does not forbid business or profit. Trade is expressly allowed. But it sets sharing and giving against interest. Whoever does good without waiting for an increase will find, according to the Holy Qur’an, that his wealth is blessed.