Consuming wealth unjustly (akl al-mal bil-batil)

أكل المال بالباطل

Al-Sha'rawi reads the verse 'do not consume your wealth among yourselves in falsehood' as a command to each person not to take another's wealth unjustly. He counts usury, theft, embezzlement, bribery, cheating and gambling as falsehood, and holds that trade by mutual consent is the lawful way. Eating together with relatives and friends is not falsehood. He grounds this in the view that protecting each person's wealth protects the movement of the whole society ¹²³⁴⁵⁶.

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At a glance

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Trade and finance

Summary

Al-Sha'rawi reads "do not consume your wealth among yourselves in falsehood" as a command to each person not to take another's wealth without right, and he treats trade by mutual consent as the lawful way. ²³

What counts as falsehood

He names usury, theft, embezzlement, bribery, cheating and gambling, and holds that taking by force or by shame without consent is not lawful. ⁴⁵⁶

Eating in the houses of relatives and friends

He recounts that the Muslims were scrupulous about eating at their brothers' houses, until the verse of al-Nur lifted that restriction, and he separates this from eating wealth in falsehood. ⁴

Protecting society

He holds that protecting each person's wealth protects the movement of the whole society, since a person who is secure in the fruit of his work works more. ²³⁵

Not checked here

No economic or juristic reading is set out in these pages (needs_source).

Opinions on the question

The question: What makes taking wealth unlawful, and what is the lawful way of dealing?

More opinions (1)

Academic viewSecondary opinion

A verified economic or juristic reading of consuming wealth unjustly has not yet been added

No academic reading is set out in these pages; it needs a named source (needs_source).

People and things also explored

Al-Madina Souq, Aleppo· Bazaar of Tabriz· Khan el-Khalili· Al-Hamidiyah Souq· Souq Waqif· Ajr al-mithl (customary wage)· Akhi Baba (title of the guild shaykh and tanners' head)· Akik (the cornelian stone, used in seal-rings)

Sources

Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2141
Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2142
Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2143
Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2144
Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2145
Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2146

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Consuming wealth unjustly (akl al-mal bil-batil)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/akl-al-mal-bil-batil/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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