Audiobook:
Summary of the article:
This article responds to modernist criticism of Maulana Maududi’s views on usury by addressing the issue at its roots rather than offering surface-level rebuttals. It raises critical questions, exposes weak assumptions behind such critiques, and uses historical evidence to challenge their arguments.
A central idea is the false dilemma of modern life: the claim that one must abandon Islamic principles to survive or succeed within dominant civilizations. Modernists argue for imitating these systems while retaining only the label of Islam. The article counters that the real problem is not the impracticality of Islam, but a lack of unity, discipline, and commitment among its followers—leading to a contradiction between identity and practice.
It further argues that true strength comes from firm conviction, not conformity. Throughout history, meaningful change has been led by those who upheld their beliefs despite pressure, while blindly following popular trends results in loss of identity and lasting influence.
Finally, it emphasizes that material success alone cannot bring dignity. Real success is rooted in character—honesty, responsibility, and self-restraint. Many issues blamed on religious limits actually arise from ignoring them, and like any system, a principled life requires discipline, sacrifice, and perseverance rather than compromise.
Let us now go through the full article:
The Plea of the Modernists:
After reading my writings on the issue of usury, a recurring argument has been raised: that in the present age, the capitalist system—backed by political power—has come to dominate the entire economic world around us. The machinery of the economy runs on the wheels of capitalism. It is driven by capitalists, and those nations are advancing toward progress through it which place no religious or moral restrictions on the production and expenditure of wealth.
On the other hand, our collective strength is scattered. The proponents of this view argue that, far from being able to change the global economic order, we do not even possess the strength to re-establish an Islamic economic system within our own community. Therefore, if our religious restrictions prevent us from fully participating in the prevailing economic system of the age, the result will be that our community falls behind other nations in benefiting from the means of economic progress and prosperity. In their view, we will continue to grow poorer while neighboring nations grow richer, and this economic weakness will eventually degrade us politically, morally, and socially as well. This, they insist, is not merely an illusion or a fear; rather, it is a reality already visible in the world—one that has been evident for years, and whose future consequences are becoming increasingly clear.
They then ask: what is the benefit of merely telling us the law of the Shariah? What is the use of explaining the economic principles of Islam? Instead, tell us whether, under these circumstances, there exists any way for us to preserve our economic condition and still advance toward progress while adhering to Islamic law. If no such way exists, then one of two outcomes will inevitably follow:
- Either Muslims will be completely destroyed,
- Or they too, like other nations, will be compelled to abandon all those laws that cannot keep pace with the age.
The Underlying Thinking Behind Such Questions:
This question is not limited only to the issue of interest. In reality, its scope is very wide. If, among all the spheres of life, only the economic sphere had come under the domination of a non-Islamic system, then perhaps the matter would have been comparatively light. But the testimony of facts is something else. Look at the world around you. Examine your own condition. Which sphere of life can be found that is not under the domination of non-Islam?
Is there not the dominance of atheism or materialism—or at least doubt and skepticism—over beliefs, ideas, and imaginations? Is education not governed by godlessness? Is civilization and culture not under the sway of Westernization? Has Western influence not penetrated even the roots of social life? Are morals safe from its dominance? Are dealings free from its control? Is there any aspect—whether in law, politics, governance, their principles or their applications—that is free from its influence?
When this is the situation, why do you limit your question only to economics, and even within that, to just one aspect? Expand it. Spread it over the whole of life. Say instead that the river of life has changed its course. Previously, it flowed along the path of Islam; now it flows along the path of non-Islam. We do not have the power to change its course. We do not even have the strength to swim against its current. We fear destruction even in remaining stationary. Now tell us of some way by which we may remain Muslims and yet also let our boat drift along this current; remain bound for the Ka‘bah and yet not leave the company of a caravan that is heading toward Turkestan; remain non-Muslim in our thoughts, ideologies, objectives of life, and methods of action—and yet also remain Muslim.
If you do not find a way to combine these contradictions, then the result will be that either we will perish on the banks of this river, or else one day the label of Islam attached to our boat will be scraped off, and this boat too will be seen drifting along with the others in the current.
Do we really need to follows "the color of the age"?
When our “enlightened” and “modernist” gentlemen speak on any issue, their final argument—the one they consider the strongest—is always this: that this is the color of the age, this is the direction of the wind, this is what is happening in the world. Then how can we oppose it, and how can we survive if we oppose it?
If the question is of morality, they will say that the standard of morality in the world has changed. The implication is that how can Muslims remain upon the old standard of morality? If the discussion is about modesty (purdah), it will be said that the veil has been lifted from the world—meaning that what has disappeared from the world, how can Muslims retain it?
If education is discussed, their final argument will be that there is no demand in the world for Islamic education. The point is clear: how can Muslim children emerge as a “product” for which there is no demand, and why should they not become what is in demand?
If the topic is usuary, the conclusion will be that the world cannot function without it. As if Muslims cannot abstain from something that has become necessary for the functioning of the world.
In short, in every sphere—civilization, society, morality, education, economy, law, politics, and all other aspects of life—whenever they wish to depart from Islamic principles and follow Western ways, the “color of the age,” the “direction of the wind,” and the “course of the world” become their ultimate proof. They present this as decisive evidence for the justification of this imitation of the West—or, in reality, this partial apostasy—and it is assumed that it is obligatory to demolish every part of the structure of Islam upon which this argument is directed.
We say: instead of presenting these proposals for demolition separately, why do you not combine them all into one comprehensive proposal? Presenting separate proposals to demolish each wall, each room, and each corridor of the building, and debating each one individually, is a waste of time. Why do you not simply say that the entire building must be demolished because its color is different from the color of the age, its direction is different from the direction of the wind, and its structure does not resemble the buildings that are now being constructed in the world?
Those whose real views are exactly this—that the entire structure should be abandoned—there is no use in arguing with them. For such people, the straightforward answer is simply this: why do you trouble yourselves to demolish this building and construct another in its place? Whichever other well-designed, attractive, and pleasing building you like, go and reside in it. If you have a desire to drift along the current of the river, then why even take the trouble of scraping off the label of this boat? Among the boats that are already drifting, simply move into one of them.
Those who are not Muslim in their thoughts, their morals, their social life, their economy, their education—in short, in anything—and who do not wish to remain Muslim, their remaining Muslim in name alone is of absolutely no benefit to Islam; rather, it is entirely harmful. They are not worshippers of God; they are worshippers of the wind (that is, slaves of desire and fashion).
If idol worship comes to dominate the world, they will certainly worship idols. If nakedness becomes widespread, they will certainly cast off their clothes. If the world begins to eat filth, they will certainly say that filth itself is purity and that purity is nothing but filth. Their hearts and minds are slaves, and they have been created only for slavery. Today Westernism dominates, so from their inner selves to every outward aspect, they wish to become Western. Tomorrow, if the Abyssinians (Habshis) come to dominate, they will surely become Abyssinians: they will blacken their faces, thicken their lips, curl their hair like theirs, and begin to revere everything that comes to them from Abyssinia.
Quality over quantity:
Islam has absolutely no need for such slaves. By God, if from among millions, the names of all such hypocrites and slavish-natured people were removed, and only a few thousand Muslims remained whose description is this:
“Allah loves them and they love Him; humble toward the believers, firm against the disbelievers; striving in the path of Allah and not fearing the blame of any blamer” (Qur’an 5:54)
then Islam would be far stronger than it is now, and the departure of those millions would be like the draining of pus and infected blood from the body of a sick person.
“We fear lest some calamity befall us” (Qur’an 5:52)—this is not a new cry today. It is a very old cry that has always been raised by the hypocrites. This very cry reveals the disease of hypocrisy hidden in hearts. Those who raise this cry have always rushed toward the camp of the opponents of Islam. They have always regarded the limits set by God as shackles on their feet and chains around their necks. They have always found obedience to God and His Messenger burdensome. In obedience they have always seen loss of life and wealth, and in disobedience they have always seen all the successes of worldly life.
Therefore, for their sake, the law of God was not changed in the past, nor can it be changed now, nor will it ever be changed.
For Whom Did Islam Really Come Down For?
This law has not been revealed for cowards and weaklings, nor for slaves of the self and the world, nor for those who drift like dust with the wind, or float like insects with the current of water, or take on every color like the colorless.
It has been revealed for those brave lions who have the resolve to change the direction of the wind, who have the courage to struggle against the flow of the river and turn its course, who love the color of Allah more than every other color, and who have the determination to dye the whole world in that color.
The one who is called a Muslim has not been created to drift along with the current of the river. The very purpose of his creation is to set the river of life flowing along the path which, in his faith and belief, is the straight path. If the river has turned away from that path, then the one who claims Islam but is content to drift along with this altered current is a liar in his claim.
In reality, the true Muslim will struggle against the flow of this misguided river. He will expend all his strength in trying to turn its course. He will not care at all about success or failure. He will willingly endure every loss that may come in this struggle. Even if, in fighting the current, his arms break, his joints are loosened, and the waves of the water throw him half-dead onto some shore, even then his spirit will never be defeated. Not for a single moment will regret over his apparent failure enter his heart, nor will any feeling of envy for the success of disbelievers or hypocrites who drift with the current find a place within him.
The Qur’an is before you. The lives of the Prophets (peace be upon them) are before you. The lives of those who have borne the banner of Islam from the beginning until today are before you. Do you learn from all of them that you should go wherever the wind blows you? That you should flow wherever the water carries you? That you should take on whatever color the age adopts?
If this were the purpose, then what need was there for the revelation of any book or the sending of any prophet? The waves of the wind were enough to guide you, the flow of worldly life was enough to direct you, and the changing spectacles of the age were sufficient to teach you the ways of a chameleon.
God has not sent any book to teach such impure lessons, nor has He sent any prophet for this purpose. From that Truth, whatever message has come, has come for this reason: that the world should abandon all the wrong paths it is following and adopt one straight path; that all paths contrary to it should be erased; and that efforts should be made to turn the world away from them.
History Is Made by the Courageous, Not the Conforming:
A community of believers should be formed who not only walk upon this straight path themselves, but also strive to draw the world toward it. The Prophets (peace be upon them) and their followers have always struggled for this very purpose. In this struggle, they endured hardships, suffered losses, and gave their lives. None of them, out of fear of difficulties or greed for benefits, ever made the course of the age their guide.
Now, if any individual or group sees loss, hardship, and danger in following the path shown by divine guidance, and out of fear wishes to adopt some other path upon which its followers appear prosperous, successful, and honored, then they are free to go along their preferred path. But why does such a cowardly and greedy person try to deceive himself and the world by claiming that he still follows the Book of God and the way shown by His Messenger, even while abandoning them? Disobedience itself is already a great crime—what is gained by adding to it falsehood, deception, and hypocrisy?
The idea that the river of life, once it has changed its course, cannot be turned back is intellectually incorrect, and experience and observation also testify against it. Not one, but hundreds of revolutions have occurred in the world, and every revolution has changed the course of this river. The most striking example of this is Islam itself.
When Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) came into the world, in which direction was this river of life flowing? Was not disbelief and polytheism dominant throughout the world? Was there not tyranny and oppression in power? Had not humanity been disgraced by unjust divisions into classes? Were not morality dominated by indecency, society by selfish desires, economy by oppressive feudalism and capitalism, and law by imbalance and injustice?
Yet a single individual stood up and challenged the entire world. He rejected all those false ideas and false practices that were prevalent at the time. In opposition to all of them, he presented his own belief and his own way. And within a short span of years, through his preaching and struggle, he changed the direction of the world and altered the color of the age.
A more recent example is the socialist movement. In the nineteenth century, the dominance of capitalism had reached its peak. At that time, no weak and opportunistic person could even imagine that a system backed by such immense political and military power could ever be overturned. Yet in those very conditions, a man named Karl Marx arose and began to preach socialism. Governments opposed him. He was expelled from his homeland. He wandered from country to country. He faced poverty and hardship. But before his death, he had formed a powerful group of socialists.
Within forty years, that group not only overthrew the mightiest power in Russia, but also shook the foundations of capitalism throughout the world. It presented its own economic and social philosophy with such force that today the number of its followers continues to increase, and even the laws of countries deeply rooted in capitalism are being influenced by it.
However, whether revolution or gradual change, it has always occurred through strength—and strength does not mean to be molded; it means to mold others. Strength does not mean to bend; it means to bend others. Never in the world have impotent and cowardly people produced any revolution. Those who have no principle, no purpose in life, no goal; who lack the courage to sacrifice for a higher objective; who cannot face dangers and hardships; who seek only comfort and ease; who can be molded into any shape and crushed under any pressure—such people have never achieved anything of significance in human history.
History is made only by courageous people. It is they who, through their struggle and sacrifices, have changed the course of the river of life, altered the thoughts of the world, brought revolutions in ways of action, and instead of being colored by the age, have colored the age in their own color.
So do not say that the world cannot be turned away from the path it is following, and that there is no choice but to follow the way of the age. Instead of making false claims of compulsion, you should honestly admit your own weakness. And when you admit this, you will also have to accept that for the weak, there can be no religion, no principle, and no code. Such a person will have to bow before every powerful force and submit to every authority. He can never remain bound by any principle or rule.
If any religion continues to change its principles for such a person, then it would cease to be a religion altogether.
Decline Through Neglect, Not Through Restriction:
It is also a deception to think that the restrictions of Islam are an obstacle to your prosperity and progress. After all, which restriction of Islam are you actually observing? Which restriction is there from which you have not freed yourselves? And which limit is there that you have not violated?
The things that are destroying you—of those, which has Islam permitted for you? You are being ruined by your extravagance, through which properties worth millions are slipping out of your hands. Did Islam ever allow you this? Your own bad habits are destroying you. Even in this state of poverty, cinemas and amusements remain full of your people. Every individual spends beyond his means on clothing and adornment. Every month, lakhs of rupees are spent from your pockets on useless customs, showy practices, and ignorant pastimes. Which of these has Islam declared lawful for you?
The greatest thing that has ruined you is negligence in the payment of zakat and indifference toward mutual cooperation. Did Islam not make these obligations binding upon you? Therefore, the reality is that the destruction of your economy is not the result of adherence to Islamic restrictions, but of freedom from them.
As for the restriction regarding interest—where is it even being observed? At least 95 percent of Muslims take loans on interest without any real necessity. Is this what you call adherence to Islamic commands? Even among wealthy Muslims, a large portion consumes interest in one form or another. If not through traditional moneylending, then through bank interest, insurance, government bonds, and provident funds—most wealthy Muslims partake in interest in these ways. So where is that restriction of the prohibition of interest which you blame for your economic decline?
What a strange argument it is: that the honor and national strength of Muslims depend upon wealth, and that wealth depends upon the permissibility of interest. It seems these people still do not know what honor and strength actually depend upon. Mere wealth is never the thing that makes a nation honorable and powerful.
The Source of True Honor:
If every individual among you becomes a millionaire or billionaire, but you lack strength of character, then be certain that you will have no honor in the world. On the contrary, if you truly possess Islamic character—if you are truthful and trustworthy, free from greed and fear, firm in your principles and upright in your dealings; if you recognize truth as truth and duty as duty; if you always distinguish between lawful and unlawful; and if you possess such moral strength that neither fear of loss nor desire for gain can divert you from the straight path, and your faith cannot be bought at any price—then your credibility will be established in the world. Respect will settle in hearts for you. The weight of your word will be greater than the entire wealth of millionaires. Even if you live in huts and wear patched clothes, you will be regarded with more respect than those living in palaces, and your nation will attain such strength that can never be brought low.
How poor were the Muslims of the era of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them)? They lived in huts and tents made of coarse cloth. They were unfamiliar with the splendor of civilization. Their clothing was not refined, their food was not refined, their weapons were not refined, nor were their mounts impressive. Yet the awe and reputation they held in the world—this was not attained by Muslims in the Umayyad era, nor in the Abbasid era, nor in any later period.
They had no wealth, but they possessed strength of character—and that established their honor and greatness in the world. Later generations acquired wealth, power, and splendor of civilization, but none of these could compensate for the weakness of character.
With Hardship Comes Ease: The Universal Law of True Success:
You have forgotten the lesson of Islamic history—but pick up the history of any nation in the world, and you will not find a single example where a nation achieved honor and power merely through ease-seeking, comfort-loving, and self-interest. You will not find any nation honored and elevated that was not bound by some principle and discipline, that could not endure hardship and difficulty for a great purpose, and that did not possess the spirit to sacrifice its desires—and even its very self—for its principles and goals.
This discipline, this adherence to principles, and this willingness to sacrifice comfort and gain for higher objectives—these you will find everywhere, though in different forms. In Islam, it has one form; in other developed nations, it has another. If you leave Islam and enter another system of civilization, you will still have to submit to some form of discipline. You will have to endure the grip of some order. You will inevitably be bound within the framework of certain principles, and sacrifices will certainly be demanded from you for some purpose or principle.
If you do not have the courage for this—if you desire only softness, ease, and sweetness, and lack the strength to endure any hardship or bitterness—then leave the restraints of Islam and go wherever you wish. You will not find a place of honor anywhere, nor will you gain any treasury of power.
The Qur’an has expressed this universal principle in just four words—and those four words are such that the entire history of the world bears witness to their truth:
“Indeed, with hardship comes ease.” (94:6)
Ease is always bound together with hardship. One who does not have the strength to endure hardship can never attain ease.