Explanation of Riyad al-Salihin-85b

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in the context of the hadiths in the chapter on "the severity of the prohibition of riba
from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) cursed the one who accepted interest and the one who paid it

لعن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم آكل الربا ومُوكلهُ

Sahih Muslim 1597

It was narrated by Muslim. Al-Tirmidhi and others added:

and the two witnesses, and the scribe.

وشاهِدَيْهِ، وكاتبهُ

"

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the chapter on the severity of the prohibition of riba, regarding what he quoted from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "The one who consumes riba" means the one who eats it, whether he uses it for food, clothing, riding, housing, bedding, or anything else. The important point is that he took the riba, as Allah the Exalted said about the Jews: So the one who consumes riba is cursed on the tongue of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
The second is the one who gives it, the one who gives riba, even though the one who gives riba is wronged, because the one who takes riba is the wrongdoer and the one from whom riba is taken is the wronged party. Nevertheless, he was cursed on the tongue of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) because he assisted in sin and transgression. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So when a person needs dirhams and goes to the bank and takes ten thousand for eleven to take ten, the bank owner becomes cursed and the taker becomes cursed on the tongue of the noblest of creation, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). How close is the response of the one whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed, and how close is the response for those whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed.
And cursing is expulsion and distance from the mercy of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This cursed person shares in the punishment of Iblis, because Allah said to Iblis: Likewise, the one who consumes riba has the curse upon him, and the one who gives it has the curse upon him, expelled and distanced from the mercy of Allah. Then this one who consumes it consumes it as illicit gain, and every body that grows from illicit gain, the Fire is more deserving of it. Then this riba that enters him, Allah removes the blessing from his wealth because of it, and perhaps He will send down calamities upon him until it is exhausted. Allah the Exalted said: As for the one who consumed riba and gave riba, the aspect of the curse regarding him is that he assisted in it.
So if someone asks: Does a person have a repentance if he was practicing riba, then Allah granted him mercy and he guided himself? We say: Yes, he has a repentance. And who can stand between him and the repentance of Allah? But it is necessary for the repentance to be sincere and pure, with regret for the sin and the resolve not to return to it. Then, if the one who took the riba from him has benefited, the riba is taken from the usurer and given in charity or placed in the public treasury. If he has not benefited, he is given what was taken from him, because if he has benefited, we cannot combine for him the right of the riba with the benefit of it. We say: Your share is the benefit. But if he has not benefited, he is given what was taken from him of riba. Al-Tirmidhi and others mentioned another narration that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) cursed the two witnesses of riba and the scribes of riba, even though the witnesses and the scribe have no benefit or advice, but they assisted in establishing the riba. The witness and the scribe establish the riba by them, because the two witnesses establish the right and the scribe authenticates it. Therefore, these three—the two witnesses and the scribe—have assisted in sin and transgression, so they have a share of that. So these five are all cursed on the tongue of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): the one who consumes riba, the one who gives it, its two witnesses, and its scribe, five.
And in this hadith is evidence that the one who assists in sin is a partner to the doer, and that is so. And this has been indicated by the Qur'an. Allah the Blessed and Exalted said: "And I sat down forgetting" meaning after he realized And He the Exalted said: So the partner of the doer of sin, even by sitting, has upon him like what is upon the owner of the sin.
And in this is evidence of the warning against riba and the obligation to stay away from it. The Muslims were not harmed by what harmed them except by the use of riba. You find the poor, destitute person finds it easy to borrow with riba because it does not burden him except with an increase in the quantity. And Allah knows his intention; it may be that his intention is not to pay when the term comes, but he makes it easy and borrows, so the debts accumulate upon him without necessity. Until some of the destitute, foolish, weak in faith borrow in order to carpet the stairs of the building. He borrows in order to carpet the stairs of the building... Is there a benefit? Is there a necessity? Yes, there is no necessity and no need either. People lived for long periods without carpeting the stairs and it did not harm them in any way. He borrows in order to make a decoration for the sitting room. Is there a necessity? Absolutely no need and no necessity, but Satan tempts him.
And this destitute person did not know that the one who lends does not have mercy on him when the term comes; he will demand payment or imprisonment or the doubling of the riba upon him, as is the reality with many of those who do not obey the word of Allah: And this destitute person was heedless of the fact that his soul, when he dies, is suspended by his debt until it is paid off for him.
And this destitute person was heedless of the fact that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: and he left the prayer for him, which indicates the greatness of the debt.
This poor man is unaware that killing in the cause of Allah, if a person is killed in the cause of Allah, means that martyrdom expiates everything except debt; it does not expiate the debt. Yet, many of our foolish people take religion lightly. One might have a car worth twenty thousand, and his situation is such that it is enough for him, but he says, "No, it is not useful. I will buy a car for eighty thousand." We said, "O man, do you have anything?" He said, "I will borrow. I will take from the showroom on installments, or I will resort to a scheme for riba (usury or interest), as some people do. They come to the showroom and say, 'I want such-and-such a car. How much is it?' They go to the merchant and say, 'Buy it and... I seek refuge in Allah. A scheme against the Lord of the Worlds! Deception and trickery. They deceive Allah, and He deceives them, and I seek refuge in Allah. This merchant did not intend the car; he intended the increase. Therefore, if one were to tell the merchant, 'Sell it to him at the principal price you bought it for,' he would say, 'Absolutely not. I will not sell it except with riba, the increase, because riba is the increase.' He says, 'I will not sell it except with the increase.' Some people say that Satan beautifies it for them. They say, 'Challenge the one who says this is not permissible. Tell him, if it were easy for him... I would not have taken it. If it were easy... I would not have taken it.' So we say this is a lie against Allah. A man comes needing a car and wants to make it easy. This is far-fetched. Moreover, what is heard about these people is that if he makes it easy, they write his name on a list, a blacklist, and he is not dealt with again. This is like coercion to accept a scheme against the Lord of the Worlds. It is not right. By Allah, if we asked this merchant who took the car from the showroom and then sold it to this man, 'What do you intend? Do you intend to be kind to this man?' He would say, 'Absolutely not. I have no acquaintance with him. I intend ten percent. Who is ten percent? This is what I intend. I do not know this man, and he does not know me.' Yes, this is the reality. How do we scheme against the Lord of the Worlds? If this man came to the bank and said, 'Give me one hundred and ten thousand and buy the car,' that would be easier than this scheme, because deception is worse than being open. The deceiver commits the sin with the addition of what? Deception. And the open one commits the sin while believing it is a sin and tries to repent from it, because... there is something. But the problem is that the deceiver sees this as permissible and persists in this act, saying, 'There is nothing wrong with it.' Ask yourself, do not ask anyone. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says: Do not seek a fatwa; seek a fatwa from your heart. Did you buy the car with a true purchase, seeking profit? He says, 'Absolutely not. If this man had not come, I would not have bought it or wanted it.' So, is the purchase of the car intended or not intended? Not intended. What is intended is the increase in money. But instead of saying, 'This is fifty thousand and sixty thousand on installments,' he says, 'No, go buy it. Go look at what you want, and we will buy it from the showroom for fifty thousand and sell it to you for sixty thousand on installments.' Every person free from bias knows that this is forbidden and there is no doubt in it. Even if people give you a fatwa and they give you a fatwa, the one who will ask you on the Day of Resurrection is the Lord of the Worlds, who knows what is in your heart. And if Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said, 'If you need a commodity from a person, a car from a person, and you have money, and you go to the one who has the car and say, 'Sell it to me for what it is worth now, fifty thousand,' and you say, 'Sell it to me for sixty thousand for a year, then I will take it and sell it,' Shaykh al-Islam says, is this forbidden or permissible? It is a scheme, and it is from the 'inah (a buy-back sale used to disguise a loan) that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against, and he said: Although the issue of tawarruq (a commodity sale used to obtain cash) is not like this. This one sold what he does not own, and this is a clear scheme. As for the issue of tawarruq, the commodity exists with the seller. For this and other reasons, if someone comes to buy it for cash, he sells it for fifty thousand. And if someone comes to buy it, and if someone comes to buy it for sixty thousand deferred, he sells it. But this person has no interest in the commodity at all. He has nothing but the riba. Then he persists in this matter, saying, 'This is permissible.' Think, think. On the Day of Resurrection, you will meet your Lord alone. You have no one, no mufti (a scholar who issues fatwas) or non-mufti. Allah the Exalted is the One who knows the treachery of the eyes and what the breasts conceal. The conclusion is that one must beware of riba. It is obligatory. Therefore, we clarified, as I said, when the matter was made easy for the poor, when it was made easy for them, it became no easier than saying to the merchant, 'O so-and-so, I want such-and-such a car.' He says, 'Go buy it from the showroom, and I will pay the value to the showroom and sell it to you for more.' This made the debt easy for people. But if they did not find someone to make things easy for them, they would refrain somewhat, and their consciences would be clear and they would be at ease. We ask Allah for success and guidance for us and for you.