As to thy question concerning interest and profit on gold
and silver: Some years ago the following passage was revealed from the heaven
of the All-Merciful in honour of the one who beareth the name of God, entitled
Zaynu’l-Muqarrabín —upon him be the glory of the Most Glorious. He—exalted be
His Word—saith: Many people stand in need of this. Because if there were no
prospect for gaining interest, the affairs of men would suffer collapse or
dislocation. One can seldom find a person who would manifest such consideration
towards his fellow-man, his countryman or towards his own brother and would
show such tender solicitude for him as to be well-disposed to grant him a loan
on benevolent terms. Therefore as a token of favour towards men We have
prescribed that interest on money should be treated like other business
transactions that are current amongst men. Thus, now that this lucid
commandment hath descended from the heaven of the Will of God, it is lawful and
proper to charge interest on money, that the people of the world may, in a
spirit of amity and fellowship and with joy and gladness, devotedly engage
themselves in magnifying the Name of Him Who is the Well-Beloved of all
mankind. Verily He ordaineth according to His Own choosing. He hath now made
interest on money lawful, even as He had made it unlawful in the past. Within
His grasp He holdeth the kingdom of authority. He doeth and ordaineth. He is in
truth the Ordainer, the All-Knowing.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah
revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
