Grand Ayatollah Shirazi remarks on usury during scholarly meeting
The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on the 15th and 16th of Jumadi al-Awwal. In these sessions like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudence issues.
Grand Ayatollah Shirazi discussed one of the reasons and wisdom for the prohibition of usury. He said: The deceased Taqlid authority, Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad al-Shirazi, has mentioned in his book Al-Fiqh that the economy is rooted in people’s prosperity and misery. With money, people become prosperous, and without money, they are miserable. So, if there is no money, people’s lives will suffer from many problems. Thus, usury is an underlying issue; it will disturb the economy of the society and the living conditions of the people.
His Eminence cited verse 276 of Surah Al-Baqarah: (God destroys profit made from usury and increases that of charity, and God does not like unbelieving Sinners), and said: the word “Yamhaqo” used in this verse does not only mean disappearing and loss in this world, because God Almighty has set the result of fulfilling or not fulfilling his commandments to prevail both in this world and the hereafter. Therefore, a person who commits usury will certainly suffer more consequences in the hereafter, and will not have any takeaway for his life after death.
The Supreme Marja then pointed out the worldly effects of usury, and said: In addition to its consequences in the hereafter, those who take usury are not always rich and prosperous, and sometimes suffer losses from other deals or affairs, and all their property is destroyed. Therefore, sometimes only in the hereafter, and sometimes in this world and the hereafter, the consequences of the sin of usury plagues a person.
