Usury occurs from loans with a fixed period of time (ila ajalin musamma). The Qur’an also states that human souls are also loaned from Allah for a fixed period of time. Also, the Qur’an states that Allah buys from the believers their souls in return for heaven.

This paper looks at how the Islamic rules of commerce and finance is exactly mirroring how Allah deals with the souls of human beings, which are loaned to them for a fixed period of time, and then sold back to Allah. It shows what usury (riba) really means and why only Allah is allowed to deal with usury, since even in semantics, the word for usury (riba) and Lord (rabb) in Arabic come from the exact same root. Similarly the word for loan (dayn), religion (dīn), and Judgment Day (Yawm al-Dīn) also come from the exact same root. It also delves into the inner meanings why during the call of prayer on Friday, commerce is prohibited in the Qur’an.

This paper uses a unique method of esoteric exegesis (ta’wīl) of the Qur’an to understand the beauty of its eloquence and how the rules of commercial contracts in the Qur’an is exactly the commercial deal that Allah makes with the souls. Once the deeper and spiritual meanings of the rules are understood, then understanding rules of commercial contracts between people becomes plainly clear.