فَإِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلُوا۟ فَأْذَنُوا۟ بِحَرْبٍ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَإِن تُبْتُمْ فَلَكُمْ رُءُوسُ أَمْوَٰلِكُمْ لَا تَظْلِمُونَ وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَ
“And if ye do not, then be warned of war (against you) from Allah and His messenger. And if ye repent, then ye have your principal (without interest). Wrong not, and ye shall not be wronged.” — M. M. Pickthall
Taberî9-10. c.✓ Citation verified
In this text, Taberî addresses the reading difference in the expression 'fe'zenû bi harbin' and prefers the reading 'fe'ezenû' with a short alif and the letter zay read with a diacritical mark above; according to this reading, the meaning is 'know and be informed by Allah and His Messenger', which means that the announcement of war against those who persist in usury by Allah and His Messenger is itself an informing to them. He also transmits that the verse was revealed concerning a disagreement over usury during the pre-Islamic period between Abbas b. Abd al-Muttalib and some people from the Thaqif tribe, and that those who repent can only take their principal capital, and cannot take the excess (usury).
وأولى القراءتين بالصواب في ذلك قراءة من قرأ: {فأذنوا} بقصر ألفها وفتح ذالها، بمعنى: اعلموا ذلك واستيقنوه، وكونوا على إذن من الله عز وجل لكم بذلك
Zemahşerî12. c.✓ Citation verified
According to Zamakhsharî, Allah's declaration of war against the disbelievers in this verse is likened to the situation when one of two opposing parties between whom a truce exists perceives that their enemy will deceive them, breaks the covenant, and announces this openly to everyone. That is, their turning away from accepting monotheism caused the covenant to be broken and war to be openly announced against them.
والمعنى : أني بعد توليكم وإعراضكم عن قبول ما عرض عليكم من وجوب توحيد الله وتنزيهه عن الأنداد والشركاء ، كرجل بينه وبين أعدائه هدنة فأحس منهم بغدرة فنبذ إليهم العهد ، وشهر النبذ وأشاعه وآذنهم جميعا بذلك
Kurtubî13. c.✓ Citation verified
According to this exegete, the verse contains a severe threat toward those who do not abandon usury; those who consume usury are considered to have declared war against Allah and His Messenger, and this condition indicates that consuming usury is among the grave sins. Furthermore, it is stated that those who repent will only gain the right to take their principal capital, and the excess (usury) will be dropped; this ruling is likened to the basis of reconciliation.
دلت هذه الآية على أن أكل الربا والعمل به من الكبائر ولا خلاف في ذلك على ما نبينه
İbn Kesîr14. c.✓ Citation verified
According to this exegete, whoever persists in usury and refuses to abandon it is invited to repent; if he does not repent, the leader of the Muslims is obligated to strike his neck. The severity of this threat is supported by statements transmitted from al-Hasan, Ibn Sîrîn, and Qatâda; furthermore, it is transmitted that the Prophet during the Farewell Pilgrimage sermon completely abolished the usuries of the pre-Islamic period, and the first usury that was abolished was that of Abbas b. Abd al-Muttalib. It is stated that for those who avoid usury, only their principal capital (ra's al-māl) is permissible to them, and neither the excess nor the deficiency is deserved.
والله إن هؤلاء الصيارفة لأكلة الربا وإنهم قد أذنوا بحرب من الله ورسوله ولو كان على الناس إمام عادل لاستتابهم فإن تابوا وإلا وضع فيهم السلاح
Beydâvî13. c.✓ Citation verified
Baydāwī states that the verse commands abandoning the remainder of usury and refraining from the excess usury that is stipulated, and that the proof of the truth of faith in the heart is compliance with this command. He explains the expression 'being declared war upon' as informing or making aware, and states that this requires fighting the usurer until he repents, but does not require disbelieving him. For those who repent, he transmits that the rights to their principal capital will be protected; those who do not repent will not even be able to take their principal capital, because whoever insists on considering usury permissible will be considered an apostate (murtad) and his property will become fay' (spoils of war).
وتنكير حرب للتعظيم وذلك يقتضي أن يقاتل المربي بعد الاستتابة حتى يفيء إلى أمر الله، كالباغي ولا يقتضي كفره.
Fahreddin er-Râzî12-13. c.✓ Citation verified
According to this exegete, the expression 'if the debtor is in hardship' in the verse shows that when the debtor is unable to pay, granting him time until payment is obligatory. After this ruling is established by the clear expression of the text, it has been extended to all other debt situations that share the same meaning, because it is impermissible to require the insolvent to pay his debt. Furthermore, he transmits a disagreement concerning whether the addressee of the command in the verse is the believers who resist usury or the disbelievers who consider usury permissible.
ثبت وجوب الإنظار في هذه بحكم النص ، ثبت وجوبه في سائر الصور ضرورة الاشتراك في المعنى
Comparison
Common ground
The point where Taberî, Kurtubî, Ibn Kesîr, and Baydāwī converge is that the expression 'fe'zenû' carries the meaning of informing or making aware, and that those who repent from usury can only take their principal capital and cannot claim the excess. Furthermore, most exegetes make reference to the occasion of revelation (asbab al-nuzul) involving the Thaqif tribe and Abbas b. Abd al-Muttalib, and to the Prophet's sermons.
Differences
While Zamakhsharî addresses the verse from the perspective of rhetoric and metaphor, interpreting the declaration of war as a comparison, Kurtubî and Ibn Kesîr employ an approach centered on transmission, emphasizing that usury is a grave sin and that one who persists may be killed. Whereas Baydāwī considers one who insists on usury an apostate whose property becomes spoils of war, al-Râzî transmits the disagreement over whether the actual addressees of the verse are believers who resist usury or disbelievers who consider usury permissible, and derives a jurisprudential ruling such as granting the debtor time; these differences stem from the different weights placed on linguistic/rhetorical, transmission-centered, and jurisprudential deduction methods.
Historical context
While the early exegete Taberî conveys basic reading variants and transmission information, in later periods Zamakhsharî and Baydāwī placed greater emphasis on linguistic and rhetorical subtleties, while Kurtubî and Ibn Kesîr focused more on the jurisprudential and hadith criticism dimensions; in al-Râzî, jurisprudential principles of methodology became more systematic. The basic framework of meaning (the prohibition of usury, the repentant receiving only the principal) remained fixed, while methods and emphases varied according to the scholarly tendencies of the period.