ABSTRACT
When Islamic jurists discuss the invalidity (and prohibition) of various riba contracts, they most often discuss only the juristic instigating factor for previous rulings forbidding juristically similar contracts For non-jurists, the juristic language of instigating factor may wrongly seem causal in nature, that is, it may seem like a philosophical explanation of the prohibition. This misunderstanding, in conjunction with the typical juristic usage of the language on justice prompted many of the early to mid-twentieth-century writers on Islamic Economics and Finance to jump to unwarranted conclusions that are neither supported by the canonical Islamic texts (the Quran and the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)) nor accurately representing the expressed views of early Muslim jurists. As a result, misconceptions about the prohibition of riba and how it affects contemporary financial transactions permeated not only the academic Islamic Economics language but also the popular discourse on Islam, money, and financial transactions.
