Spread of Riba (Usury) and Intoxicants Under New Names
Appeared
In brief
Among the signs is that riba (interest and usury) spreads, people stop caring whether their income is lawful or not, and intoxicants become normal under new names.
The Prophet ﷺ said a time will come when a man will not care where his wealth comes from, whether halal or haram. He also said people of his ummah will drink wine and call it by another name.
Scholars point to how exact that wording is. Forbidden drinks and interest-based deals are given friendly commercial or recreational names, so they become socially acceptable while staying what they are.
Guard the purity of your provision (rizq) and shun both riba and intoxicants regardless of how society renames them.
Where it sits in the sequence
The narrations do not put these in order, and many of them overlap. Sahih al-Bukhari 7121 lists several together.
Strongest narrations
Read all in the archive →Tags are automatic and unreviewed.
حَدَّثَنَا آدَمُ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَبِي ذِئْبٍ، حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدٌ الْمَقْبُرِيُّ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " لَيَأْتِيَنَّ عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ لاَ يُبَالِي الْمَرْءُ بِمَا أَخَذَ الْمَالَ، أَمِنْ حَلاَلٍ أَمْ مِنْ حَرَامٍ ".
Narrated Abu Hurairah (ra):The Prophet (ﷺ) said "Certainly a time will come when people will not bother to know from where they earned the money, by lawful means or unlawful means." (See Hadith no)
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ حَنْبَلٍ، حَدَّثَنَا زَيْدُ بْنُ الْحُبَابِ، حَدَّثَنَا مُعَاوِيَةُ بْنُ صَالِحٍ، عَنْ حَاتِمِ بْنِ حُرَيْثٍ، عَنْ مَالِكِ بْنِ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ، قَالَ دَخَلَ عَلَيْنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ غَنْمٍ فَتَذَاكَرْنَا الطِّلاَءَ فَقَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو مَالِكٍ الأَشْعَرِيُّ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " لَيَشْرَبَنَّ نَاسٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَمْرَ يُسَمُّونَهَا بِغَيْرِ اسْمِهَا " .
Narrated AbdurRahman ibn Ghanam: Malik ibn AbuMaryam said: AbdurRahman ibn Ghanam entered upon us and we discussed tila' and he said: AbuMalik al-Ash'ari told me that he heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Some of my people will assuredly drink wine calling it by another name
قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ حَدَّثَنَا شَيْخٌ، مِنْ أَهْلِ وَاسِطٍ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مَنْصُورٍ الْحَارِثُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ سُفْيَانَ الثَّوْرِيَّ، وَسُئِلَ، عَنِ الدَّاذِيِّ، فَقَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " لَيَشْرَبَنَّ نَاسٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَمْرَ يُسَمُّونَهَا بِغَيْرِ اسْمِهَا " . قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ وَقَالَ سُفْيَانُ الثَّوْرِيُّ الدَّاذِيُّ شَرَابُ الْفَاسِقِينَ .
Abu Dawud said:An old man of the people of Wasit narrated from Abu Mansur al-Harith bin Mansur saying: I heard Sufyan Al-Thawri who was asked about al-dadhi. He said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Some of my people will assuredly drink wine calling it by another name
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مَعْنُ بْنُ عِيسَى، عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ صَالِحٍ، عَنْ حَاتِمِ بْنِ حُرَيْثٍ، عَنْ مَالِكِ بْنِ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ غَنْمٍ الأَشْعَرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي مَالِكٍ الأَشْعَرِيِّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لَيَشْرَبَنَّ نَاسٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي الْخَمْرَ يُسَمُّونَهَا بِغَيْرِ اسْمِهَا يُعْزَفُ عَلَى رُءُوسِهِمْ بِالْمَعَازِفِ وَالْمُغَنِّيَاتِ يَخْسِفُ اللَّهُ بِهِمُ الأَرْضَ وَيَجْعَلُ مِنْهُمُ الْقِرَدَةَ وَالْخَنَازِيرَ " .
It was narrated from Abu Malik Ash’ari that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:“People among my nation will drink wine, calling it by another name, and musical instruments will be played for them and singing girls (will sing for them). Allah will cause the earth to swallow them up, and will turn them into monkeys and pigs.”
What scholars have said
Scholars cite it as having appeared
Allamah Muhammad Al-Barzanjid. 1103 AH (1040-1103 AH)
Places the spread of riba (usury), ceasing to care whether wealth is halal or haram, and rebranding intoxicants under permissive labels among the signs that have appeared and continue to intensify.
al-Isha'a li-Ashrat al-Sa'a, ch. 2
Present-day data
These numbers show the world today beside the narration. They do not decide whether the sign has appeared; that is shown only through named scholars, in the Scholars' views tab.
'A time will come when a man will not care whether what he takes is lawful or unlawful' (Sahih al-Bukhari 2083); 'people of my ummah will drink wine, calling it by another name' (Sunan Abi Dawud 3688). Two present-day measures sit near these words: how much the world now runs on interest-bearing debt, and how much harm alcohol does. Below are dated records of both: public budgets that pay interest out of taxes, bank losses moved onto depositors and taxpayers, and drug use, seizures, treatment and court cases over time.
Narrations behind this panel: Sahih al-Bukhari 2083 · Sahih al-Bukhari 5590 · Sunan Abi Dawud 3688 · Sunan Ibn Majah 4020
What the commentators said it means
- 'By another name': Ibn al-Qayyim and others apply it to those who rename what intoxicates, or rename riba as trade, to make it lawful; the ruling follows the reality, not the name.
- The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the one who consumes riba, the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and its two witnesses, and said: 'They are all alike': Jabir's narration (Sahih Muslim 1598).
- 'A time will come when no one remains who does not consume riba; whoever does not, its dust will reach him': Abu Hurayrah's narration (Sunan Abi Dawud 3331, Ibn Majah 2278). Weak per al-Albani, since al-Hasan did not hear from Abu Hurayrah; quoted often, but not established.
- Interest on bank loans and deposits is the riba that is forbidden: resolution 10 (10/2) of the OIC International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Jeddah, December 1985.
- Interest on the government's own internal and external loans is also riba; the banking system must be made interest-free by 31 December 2027: Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan, 28 April 2022.
- 'Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is forbidden': Ibn Umar's narration (Sahih Muslim 2003). New names (yaba, ice, party pills) do not change the ruling.
- 'There will be people of my ummah who will make lawful fornication, silk, wine and musical instruments': Abu Malik al-Ash'ari's narration (Sahih al-Bukhari 5590).
News and journals
Dated reports from news outlets, research journals and official bodies, each with its source.
Taxes that go to interest
Governments borrow at interest and pay it from what citizens pay in VAT and income tax.
- Bangladesh FY2026-27: about Tk 1.27 lakh crore for interest, one of the largest single heads of a Tk 9.38 lakh crore budget.
- The interest bill has more than doubled since FY20 (Tk 57,070 crore).
- Worldwide, 61 developing countries spend at least a tenth of government revenue on interest (UNCTAD).
- So a taxpayer who never takes a loan still pays interest through the budget.
The Financial Express, 'Debt interest cost hits 13.6pc of new budget' ↗bdnews24, Budget FY2026-27 ↗Dawn, on UNCTAD's A World of Debt 2025 ↗
as of 2026-10-29
When large borrowers do not repay, the public pays
Unpaid loans of a few large borrowers end up on depositors' savings and the state budget.
- Defaulted loans in Bangladesh: Tk 94,313 crore in 2019, Tk 6.07 lakh crore by June 2026, nearly a third of all loans.
- Five failing banks merged into Sammilito Islami Bank: 76% of their Tk 1.93 lakh crore in loans were non-performing.
- The government puts in Tk 20,000 crore of public money; Tk 15,000 crore of institutional deposits is turned into shares.
- Up to Tk 12,000 crore from the deposit insurance fund for some 75 lakh depositors.
Dhaka Tribune, default loans cross Tk 6 lakh crore (Bangladesh Bank data, June 2026) ↗The Daily Star, 'Defaulted loans climb to Tk 588,704cr by March' ↗The Business Standard, merging banks approved as Sammilito Islami Bank ↗Prothom Alo, 'Merged banks to be named Sammilito Islami Bank' ↗
as of 2026-10-29 · reviewed monthly
Hard to step outside the system
Interest-free finance is a small part of the world's money, which is why many say they take part unwillingly.
- Islamic financial assets: about US$4.4 trillion (IFSB, Q3 2025), next to US$348 trillion of global debt.
- Salaries, rent, utilities and taxes all pass through interest-based banks and state budgets.
- Pakistan's Federal Shariat Court (2022) noted that Islamic banking and an interest-free banking system are not the same thing.
IFSB, Islamic Financial Services Industry Stability Report 2026 (via Daily Trust) ↗Institute of International Finance, Global Debt Monitor (via Reuters, 25 Feb 2026) ↗Dawn, 'Federal Shariat Court declares interest-based banking system against Sharia', 29 Apr 2022 ↗
as of 2026-10-29
Drugs under new names
Drug use has spread as a casual habit at parties and among friends, Muslim countries included.
- Bangladesh: 8.3 million users in 2025, 2.3 times the 2018 estimate; 285,000 are women and 255,000 children and adolescents.
- The names change: phensedyl in the 1980s, then yaba, and now crystal meth ('ice'), per the DNC's director general.
- Yaba and other ATS tablet seizures rose 91% in 2025, to 43.6 million.
- Worldwide: 331 million users in 2024, about 1 in 16 people aged 15-64.
Prothom Alo, DNC national survey, 26 June 2025 ↗The Daily Star, on the DNC Annual Drug Report 2025 ↗UNODC, World Drug Report 2026, highlights ↗
as of 2026-10-29
Treatment and courts cannot keep up
In Bangladesh, rehab capacity and the courts are far behind the number of users and cases.
- 387 licensed private treatment centres (25 new licences in 2024).
- Government beds: 124 at the central centre in Dhaka and 25 each in Rajshahi, Chattogram and Khulna.
- Narcotics cases are 40% of police cases, the largest category (Police HQ data, 2019 to January 2025).
- Drug cases often stay pending for years: overburdened courts, weak evidence and intimidated witnesses (DNC report 2025).
DNC, Annual Drug Report 2024 (ISSUP) ↗Crime Dynamics in Bangladesh: a six-year analysis of Police Headquarters statistics (2025) ↗The Daily Star, on the DNC Annual Drug Report 2025 ↗
as of 2026-10-29
Read with care
- Debt totals count all borrowing, not riba as the jurists define it, and drug and alcohol figures are for whole populations, not for Muslims alone; no number measures the narration itself, and the site does not declare the sign fulfilled (rule 1).
- Drug estimates are revised often and surveys use different methods; seizures and arrests show police activity as much as drug use. Bank figures are Bangladesh Bank's; no borrower is named here.
Draft: figures and wording await a researcher's check and the scholar board.