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276. " allah effaces usury and he causes charities to flourish, and allah
does not love any ungrateful sinner."

commentary:
the arabic word /mahq/ means
`effacement, obliteration, erasure',
and the term /muhaq/, from the same root, is used for the moon when it
disappears by the nights at the end of the lunar month. then the term
/riba/
`usury interest', with the sense of gradual increase, is applied in the
opposite correspondence.

this verse admonishes that though a usurer takes interest from
others in order to compile wealth, allah seizes the abudance and good
results that he expects from the gross of wealth gained through usury.
the property resulted from usury may not necessarily be obliterated
itself, but the goals, which are considered from compiling wealth, fail.

" allah effaces usury ..."

in the course of usury, there is no love, happiness, and security, so
that many a rich person can gain no sort of confort, peace, or amiability
from their wealth. on the contrary, in the regulations, where there is
charity, or donation and good loan, people enjoy of many favours. in
such societies, the poor are not disappointed, and the rich are not
encountered with callousness of the heart and do not mind the
multiplication of wealth. so, in these regulations, the deprive do not
think of revenge, theft, and the like, and the rich are not anxious about
guarding and protecting their properties. this society will have a relative
equilibrium accompanied with kindness, compassion, security and
mutual understanding.

"... and he causes charities to flourish, ..."

in tafsir kabir by fakhr razi, it is cited that when usurer
obliterates equilibrium, compassion, and human justice from him, his self
and his property will be cursed by the poor, and every moment hatred,
plot and theft threaten him. this is an example of that effacement
which is stated in the verse.

explanations:
1. do not note and gaze at only the apparent growth of wealth.

" allah effaces usury ..."

2. sustenance is with allah. the possessor of wealth may be
deprived of welfare while the poor may often live in the best state of
peace of mind.

3. usurer is the one who is very ungrateful, and sin has settled in
his soul:
" ungrateful sinner ". by taking interest, he makes himself
debtful to people. he makes his livelihood unlawful for himself, and
also he nullifies his worships. he lets callousness, greed and avarice
dominate over him.

"... and allah does not love any ungrateful sinner."

yes, he is a very ungrateful, as well as a sinner.

4. to efface the wealth emerging from usury is allah's way of
treatment which will be continued forever. the reference for this
meaning is the qur'anic word /yamhaqu/ `efface' where the present
tense of which, in arabic, denotes the continuity of the verb.