Question

Asalamualiakum, brother last week i heard a shaykh from bahrain say that riba is greater than shirk or i thonk he said murtad. Can you please explain how and give evdience to your answer. May allah reward you!

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Riba (interest and/or usury) is a grave major sin but it is absolutely lesser than Shirk [associating partners to Allah] because there is no greater sin than Shirk.

However, a person who deals with Riba is sinful and deserves the Punishment of Allah which is being prevented from His Mercy and entering Hellfire if Allah wishes to punish him. Nonetheless, he is not an apostate and he is not considered as committing Shirk unless he believes that Riba is lawful after it has been confirmed to him that it [Riba] is forbidden.

Allah Knows best.

Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb