Prohibition of taking Ar-Riba (The Usury)

باب تغليظ تحريم الربا

This brief chapter sharpens the warning against riba, dealing in interest or usury. It treats the practice not as an ordinary financial matter but as a wrong serious enough to draw the Prophet's curse on everyone involved.

The single hadith spreads the blame widely, reaching the one who takes interest, the one who pays it, and in another wording the scribe and the witnesses too. The lesson is that all who knowingly take part in such a transaction share in its sin.

Hadith 1615

`Abdullah bin Mas`ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

وعن ابن مسعود رضي الله عنه قال‏:‏ ‏ "‏ لعن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم آكل الربا وموكله‏" ‏ ‏(‏‏(‏رواه مسلم‏)‏‏)‏‏.‏ ‏زاد الترمذي وغيره‏:‏ ‏ ‏ وشاهديه، وكاتبه

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the one who accepts Ar-Riba (the usury) and the one who pays it. [Muslim]. The narration in At-Tirmidhi adds: And the one who records it, and the two persons who stand witness to it.

In plain words

The Prophet (peace be upon him) called down a curse on the one who takes interest and the one who pays it, and another wording adds the one who records it and the two witnesses. Everyone who knowingly takes part in a usurious deal shares the blame.

Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 1615 In-book reference : Book 17, Hadith 105