The Discourse of Usury in the Views of Islam and Christianity

Abstract

Before the emergence of Abrahamic religion, the population in the past experienced both economic calamity and humanitarian crisis as a result of usury practices. Various historical studies reveal that the Babylonian period was an era where human civilization showed dreadful facts as a result of usury praxis. This study focuses on Islamic and Christianity views of usury in economic activities. This paper aims to examine usury starting from semantic discussions to usury practices which are closely related to economic activity from both an Islamic and Christianity perspective. The method used in this paper is a qualitative method with a literature study approach taken from various national and international sources, namely books and journals and citing explanations from the Bible and Qur’an. The results of this research reveal that in Christianity, the study and prohibition of usury practices are mostly discussed in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy, Exodus dan Leviticus, while the New Testament tends to discuss things that need to be done to avoid usury practices. Associated with the economy in general in Christianity refers to the practice of lending money (loans) to those in need without asking for interest or additional returns as a form of profit. Meanwhile, in Islam, the discourse of usury can be found in al-Baqarah, al ‘Imran, al-Nissa‘, al-Rum and the kind of prohibited Usury in is Riba Nasiah, Fadhl and Jahiliyyah which related to purchases and loans.