Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 278 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:278

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَذَرُوا۟ مَا بَقِىَ مِنَ ٱلرِّبَوٰٓا۟ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

“O you who have believed, fear Allāh and give up what remains [due to you] of interest, if you should be believers.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Believers must be mindful of Allah and let go of whatever ribā is still owed them: the proof that their faith is real.

A reflection

The first debt cancelled was his own family's

A new chief executive announces fairer pay across the company. Before anyone else's arrangements change, she cuts the perks of her own board, starting with her brother-in-law's. Nobody can call the policy hypocritical after that.

The Prophet ﷺ did something similar on the greatest stage of his life. In his sermon at the Farewell Pilgrimage, he declared all the ribā of the pre-Islamic era cancelled. Then he named the first: 'The first ribā I cancel is our own: the ribā of al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. It is cancelled entirely' (Sahih Muslim). Al-ʿAbbās was his uncle.

This is how the command in this ayah was lived. 'Fear Allah, and give up what remains of ribā'. Not only stop new dealings. Give up what is still owed: debts already contracted, interest already counted as yours.

The leadership lesson is plain and costly. Reform that begins with other people's privileges is politics. Reform that begins with your own family's is integrity. People watch which interests a leader protects. If his own circle is exempt, every principle he states becomes negotiable.

The Prophet ﷺ could have started with the wealthiest stranger, or with his enemies. He started with his uncle. That single sentence made the rule real for everyone else.

If you lead a team, a household or a mosque committee, ask: when I introduce a hard rule, whose interests does it touch first? If the answer is never mine, the rule will not hold.

The chief executive lost some friends on her board. She gained something more valuable: a policy people believed.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.