Is any benefit (interest/usury) allowed in Debt transactions in the Torah (Old Testament)? (Part 3)
[19 You shall not lend on interest to your brother: interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest; but you shall not charge your brother interest, that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it.] [Bible Deuteronomy 23:19-20]
The above quote clearly forbids dealing in interest on loans to a brother. However, it appears to allow the same when lending to a “foreigner”. The following points need to carefully evaluated.
1) This exception is only mentioned in one of the three quotes from the Torah (Old Testament).
2) This exception is only mentioned in one of the thirteen quotes from the Old and New Testament (Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings), Psalm/Zaboor, Gospel/Injil).
3) Biblical scholars analyse archaeological evidence and ancient parchments, as no original copy has survived from the times of the prophets. This includes analysing transmission (inclusion of opinions, or omissions), translation, transliteration and similar issues.
4) If a practice is harmful for your brother and the society as a whole, one would wonder why it should be allowed to “foreigners”, the effects of which would eventually feed back into one’s own society.
So how should the economy and financial intermediation be structured?
The book “Islamic Finance and Trade: God’s Economic System”, is the culmination of over 25 years of research, to present the answer to the above question. You are kindly invited to Read, Review and Recommend the book. It is available at https://a.co/d/7N6tOVs and on all Amazon sites.
