Nouman Ali Khan

Founder, Bayyinah Institute · Tafsīr & Qurʾānic exposition

Comparative · Contemporary USA

The most-listened-to English-language tafsīr voice on al-Baqarah 2:275–281 — the surah's riba sequence. NAK reads the āyāt as the Qurʾān's most rhetorically severe passage, refuses every necessity-based softening, and frames the modern Muslim's appeal to ḥājah as a negotiation with God about terms God has already closed.

On the core questions

4 of the 6 core questions are documented for this voice. Each carries its source.

Q1 · Is riba prohibited in Islam?

Prohibits

Source:Tafsīr of al-Baqarah 2:275–281 — Bayyinah recordings

Q2 · Is conventional bank interest the same as Qurʾānic riba?

Prohibits

Treats modern bank interest as the textbook example of what 2:275 calls 'consuming riba'. Rejects the historical-context argument used to limit the prohibition to consumption loans.

Source:Tafsīr lectures; numerous khutbahs

Q3 · Is a conventional mortgage permissible by necessity (ḍarūrah) in the West?

Prohibits

When God says 'leave what remains of riba' and we say 'but the mortgage' — we are not asking a fiqh question. We are negotiating. And the surrounding āyāt make clear there is nothing to negotiate.

Source:Khutbah on Ribalink

Q4 · Is contemporary Murābaḥah-based home finance permissible?

Permits — strict conditions

Has cautioned that 'Islamic' labels do not by themselves make a product permissible — the underlying contract must transfer real risk.

Source:Q&A sessions

Positions are summarised conservatively from documented statements. A label reflects the scholar's strongest documented position; the nuance line captures the qualifiers. Verify against the cited source, and see the methodology for how these were formed.