FROM RIBĀ TO IḤSĀN: Q 3:130–136 AND THE NORMATIVE ARCHITECTURE OF SHARIA ECONOMIC LAW

Abstract

This article reconstructs Q 3:130–136 as a normative foundation for sharia economic law. Existing readings frequently isolate the prohibition of ribā in Q 3:130 from the commands to pursue forgiveness, spend in prosperity and adversity, restrain anger, pardon others, practise iḥsān, and discontinue wrongdoing. Using normative legal research, munāsabah, lexical analysis, comparative tafsīr, and a maqāṣid al-sharīʿah framework, the study examines how the sequence integrates transactional legality with distributive justice, ethical governance, and remediation. It argues that the passage establishes a four-layer architecture. First, ribā marks a prohibited mode of gain that cannot be legitimated by exploiting vulnerability. Second, infāq affirms the social function and circulation of wealth. Third, restraint, pardon, and iḥsān govern the exercise of contractual and institutional power, especially when a counterparty experiences hardship. Fourth, remembrance, repentance, and non-persistence require institutions to identify, correct, and remedy sharia non-compliance. Indonesian banking legislation, the Compilation of Sharia Economic Law, DSN-MUI fatwas, and contemporary OJK sharia-governance rules are used as a contextual—not exegetical—test of this model. The article concludes that sharia economic law cannot be reduced to formal avoidance of prohibited clauses; it must align contractual form, economic substance, institutional conduct, and corrective accountability with justice and public welfare.