Yes, several major religions, including Islam, Judaism, and historical Christianity, have prohibitions or strong warnings against charging or paying interest (usury), viewing it as exploitative, unjust, and promoting inequality between the rich and poor, with modern financial systems often requiring workarounds like Islamic finance or profit-sharing models (Heter Iska) to align with faith.
Millions of Muslims in the United States face that question. A set of Islamic principles—based on the goal of providing economic justice for all—prohibits Muslims from paying or receiving interest during financial transactions. Some Jewish and Christian groups face a similar prohibition.
Scripture is clear on this point: God's people are to avoid charging interest to one another. Exodus 22:25 – “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.”
According to Leviticus 25:37, “You shall not lend [your brother] your money at interest.” Exodus 22:25 stipulates” “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.” Deuteronomy 23:20 says much the same thing about loans ...
Islam forbids both receiving and paying interest (riba). Many of us can end up accumulating interest through our bank accounts even if we don't want it, so what should we do with it? Since it is not permissible to use riba for one's own benefit, we should donate it to charity.
Understanding Riba
Riba is a concept in Islamic banking that refers to charged interest. It has also been referred to as usury, or the charging of unreasonably high interest rates. Riba is prohibited under Sharia law to ensure equity in commerce. Islam aims to encourage charity and helping others through kindness.
To sin is to say "no" to God and God's presence by harming others, ourselves, or all of creation. Charging interest is indeed sinful when doing so takes advantage of a person in need as well as when it means investing in corporations involved in the harming of God's creatures.
Here we have Jesus saying, “lend, expecting noth- ing in return,” again to the crowds as well as to Jesus' disciples (Lk 17, 7:1). Garland (2011) suggests that Jesus says this because his teaching reaffirms the essence of the Old Testament prohibition against interest.
In Islamic finance (IF), the organization takes "ownership," but traditional banks only care for the money. In Islamic Finance, the buyer gives back the borrowed "money" without any interest to the organization, whereas conventional banks ask for money with interest.
According to the Rambam, just as it is forbidden to lend to another Jew at interest, it is a positive mitzvah to charge interest when lending to non-Jews.
Islamic mortgages are mortgages that are compliant with Sharia law. Also known as 'halal mortgages', they differ from traditional home loans in that you don't pay interest as this is forbidden under Sharia law. Making money from money goes against Islamic finance beliefs.
Usury is interest that a lender charges a borrower at a rate above the lawful ceiling on such charges; a contract upon the loan of money with an illegally high interest rate as a condition of the loan. Usury is also the act of making a loan at such an interest rate; making a loan at a usurious rate.
Mary was making memories. She was collecting a sort of mental scrapbook. The other key word in this verse is the word, “pondered.” The Greek word means “to throw thoughts together; mull over, draw conclusions, consider, confer mentally.” Another definition for ponder is to wonder at a deep level.
The primary Bible verse addressing a man's failure to care for his family, including children, in the KJV is 1 Timothy 5:8, which states: "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel". This verse emphasizes that neglecting one's family (especially immediate family/household) is a severe spiritual failure, worse than that of an unbeliever. Other passages like Proverbs 13:22-24 and Colossians 3:21 touch on parental responsibility, but 1 Timothy 5:8 directly condemns the failure to provide for dependents.
The usual answer is something like, “It's okay to have hobbies if they aren't sinful.” For example, gotquestions.org concludes this. So yes, Christians can have hobbies, but we have to make sure they never replace Christ. That is the temptation, and we must be sure to avoid it. That's true.
For the most part, Christians have concluded that interest is not inherently prohibited in modern societies, but that lending practices— including interest rates and collateral—must not take advantage of vulnerable people or make people destitute.
As stewards of God's resources, the Bible says that maintaining a reserve of savings is important. “The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets” (Proverbs 21:20, TLB). Saving a portion of all the money that flows into our lives makes sense as a practical matter.
Christianity has faced significant theological criticism from thinkers of other Abrahamic religions, particularly including Judaism and Islam.
Christians, Jews & Muslims. All three Abrahamic religions – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam – have teachings that prohibit the charging of interest on loans. This prohibition is based on the belief that charging interest is exploitative and goes against the principle of treating others with fairness and compassion.
In Leviticus, loans themselves are encouraged, whether of money or food, emphasizing that they enable the poor to regain their independence. Like the other two places in the Bible, the charging of interest on the loan is forbidden.