Dangers and Prohibitions of Riba

Samura bin Jundab (عنه االله رضي (narrated The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم (said, “This night I dreamt that two men (Angels) came and took me to a Holy land (whence we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood, where a man was standing, and on its bank was standing another man with stones in his hands. The man in the middle of the river tried to come out, but the other threw a stone in his mouth and forced him to go back to his original place. So, whenever he tried to come out, the other man would throw a stone in his mouth and force him to go back to his former place. I asked, ‘Who is this?’ I was told, ‘The person in the river was a Riba-eater.”

(Bukhari, No. 1386 and 2085)

Short Explanation:

A continuation of the previous hadith on Riba being a major sin, this hadith depicts the states of those dealing in Riba in the Hereafter as well as all those associated with it.

From the hadith above, the prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم (informed us on his ‘true dream’ (one of the types of revelation) where both Jibril and Mikail brought him to the Holy land and showed him the states of several sins (i.e. liars, adulterers and scholars who do not practice what they have learned) in the Hereafter including riba.

This injunction implies the severity of Riba, which is also emphasized in the Quran: “And if you do not (give up what remains of Riba, then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger”.