Back to search

To what extent is it valid to cite the Hadith: "Every loan that draws benefit is usury (riba)," despite the lack of authenticated chains of transmission (sanad) for it?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The aforementioned Hadith is weak in its chain of transmission but sound in its meaning. It refers to conditional benefit, and there are corroborations for this meaning from the sayings of the Companions, such as what Al-Bukhari narrated from Abdullah ibn Salam concerning not accepting a gift in exchange for a right, and Ibn Mas'ud's saying regarding what is obtained from the back of a horse, and what Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated from Zirr ibn Hubaysh concerning returning a gift along with a loan, and Ibn Abbas's saying regarding not accepting a gift or a borrowed item when lending money, and what Abdur-Razzaq narrated from Ibn Abbas concerning the issue of fish and a loan. Scholars have unanimously agreed that if a lender stipulates an increase or a gift from the borrower, then taking this increase is usury (riba).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy