The process of lending and interest

Islam encourages the use of interest-free loans in all economic

transactions and prohibits the gaining of interest on a loan, except

in some cases. These cases include the purchase of essentials, such

as a home, a car, etc.

IMAM MOUSTAFA AL-QAZWINI

Islamic Educational

Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

Christians put prescriptions for “loans” and “debts” in Scripture

(see Deuteronomy 23-24 for good examples) into the perspective of

being good stewards of all that God has given to us: all we have and

all we are. Phrases from the Book of Common Prayer like “faithful

stewards of God’s good gifts” (p. 259) and “stewards for the common

and equal benefit of all people” (p. 877) are found frequently in

Christian documents and prayers. When Christians pray as Jesus

taught, some use the words “forgive us our debts as we forgive our

debtors”; and all Christians know not to “rob Peter to pay Paul”!

“Loans” and “debts” are money matters, and Christians should view

monies as means to ends; our focus is on discerning and implementing

the will of God by all means.

With regard to the larger question, Christians are very concerned

with international development. Resources ranging from missions to

money are mobilized for ministry to this end. Many Christians have

lobbied governmental representatives in favor of forgiving foreign

debts; one could say that these Christians “have no interest in

‘interest’.” In the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church a

percentage of all budgets is directed toward this concern, which

includes: poverty and hunger and homelessness, improving maternal

health and reducing child mortality, primary education, gender

equality, combating malaria and HIV/AIDS and other epidemic diseases,

ensuring environmental stability, and developing global partnerships.

Finally, Christians agree with Shakespeare in that “He who dies pays

all!”

THE VERY REV. CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

St. Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar

Psalm 15 asks, “O Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tent? Who shall

dwell on thy holy hill?” One of the qualifications then offered is,

“He who does not put out his money at interest.” That represents the

ideal.

As Judaism developed, though, no absolute prohibition of interest

was legislated. From passages such as Exodus 22:25, “If you lend

money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to

him as a creditor, and you shall not exact interest from him,” it was

concluded that while the Bible condemned charging interest on loans,

it centered primarily on the transgression of exploiting the poor

through lending them money at interest. The Torah’s distinction

between loans by Jews to non-Jews and loans to other Jews resulted

from the fact that loans within the Jewish community were for

charitable purposes only while loans to non-Jews were for purposes of

commerce.

While the Torah prohibits Jewish people to charge interest of

their co-religionists, Moses Maimonides rules it is permissible for a

Jewish person to charge interest of a non-Jew only when and in the

amount necessary to provide himself with a basic living. To charge a

usurious rate is prohibited.

In medieval Europe, authorities steadily limited the occupations

allowable to Jews. Ultimately, Jews could not own or farm land or

enter certain professions, and were afforded limited educational

opportunities. Both Christian and Jewish law believed that charging

interest on loans ought not be practiced with one’s co-religionists.

But the European economy would never flourish if the giving of

loans was not advantageous. Start-up loans, for example, could not be

obtained to launch new business ventures if there was no anticipation

of profit for the lender who was taking a risk in making the loan.

Since Jews could charge non-Jews interest on loans, and given the

few opportunities open to them, Jewish people gradually became

heavily involved in money-lending, pawn-brokerage and trading --

performing a vital service in enabling Europe to emerge from economic

stagnation.

Throughout Christendom, prohibitions of interest were slowly but

relentlessly dismissed under the weight of economic reality and new

theological interpretations. The word “usury” itself, which once

meant any interest, came to be defined only as excessive and

exploitative interest levels. In the area of money-lending as in so

many others, religion gradually made its peace with the modern world.

RABBI MARK MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach