Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim knowledge guide translates and reviews Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq's discussion of whether riba is the same as interest, why Islamic finance scholars disagree, and why the article argues that there is no true consensus equating all interest with riba.

This is one of a series of articles where I translate foreign scholars' questions about so-called Islamic finance. I will share more works from time to time. These articles show that scholars have never reached a consensus on whether interest is the same as usury. The discussions are deep and thought-provoking.

This is a repost of an old article. The original was deleted, so I have edited the content.: The Riba-Interest Equivalence: Is there a consensus?

Author: Dr. Mohammad Omar Farooq is an associate professor of economics and finance at the University of Bahrain and teaches in the Islamic banking department. He served as the director of the Islamic finance center at the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance. Before that, he lived in the United States for 20 years, worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, and taught at Upper Iowa University. He is also a member of the technical working group for the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI).
Main text:

One academic view defines usury as any profit made without a transfer of value. This includes not only interest but also transactions involving speculation, capital gains, monopolies, hoarding, and rent-free land.

Islamic banking is different from traditional interest-based banking. It is based on the Islamic claim that interest is forbidden. Of course, usury is clearly and indisputably forbidden.

There is absolutely no dispute regarding certain types of forbidden usury. Since this article does not need to explain every relevant Islamic term in detail, I will note here that interest is classified as either Riba al-nasia (interest on deferred payments) or Riba al-fadl (interest related to the exchange of goods, especially in barter trade). The latter was added mainly based on the Hadith.

In modern jurisprudence, the scope of Riba has expanded to include all forms of interest, such as high or low rates, nominal or real, and simple or compound. Riba al-fadl has also been extended to more than six types of goods based on qiyas (analogical deduction).

However, Ibn Abbas, a main companion of the Prophet and an early Islamic jurist, along with a few other companions like Usama ibn Zayd, Abdullah ibn Masud, Urwa ibn al-Zubayr, and Zayd ibn Arqam, believed the only illegal riba was riba al-jahiliyyah, which is a form of riba an-nasia [Saleh, p. 27]. The orthodox position popular today is the opposite of this record.

What is usury and what is its scope? Are interest and usury exactly the same, or is one stricter? Another word is riba. Is bank interest specifically usury? Traditional texts from the same school of thought equate riba with interest in general [Ahmed, p. 28], using the two terms interchangeably. When explaining why usury is forbidden, the literature addresses the reasons for forbidding interest, assuming the two are exactly the same.

Advocates of the Islamic banking and finance movement often claim there is a consensus that usury is the same as interest. In this article, we examine the truth and validity of this claim. In other words, the subject of this article is not whether interest is forbidden, but whether a consensus exists that usury is equal to interest.

Consensus—is the claim that interest equals usury true?

The question of whether interest is usury is important beyond just academic discussion or debate. In fact, there is a tendency to claim the debate is already over, or that there is no room for further argument. Here are some examples.

The general consensus among scholars is clearly that there is no difference between riba and interest. [Muhammad Arif]

Islamic law does not allow usury, and economists now generally believe that riba is not limited to usury but also includes interest. [Chiara Segrado, "Islamic Microfinance and Socially Responsible Investments", August 2005]

The famous scholar Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi believes the issue of banning interest is settled. He says there is no rule that allows any reformer to reinterpret it or find an excuse to claim otherwise. He points out that this is a matter that has passed the test of consensus among the Ummah, both today and in the past. [Syed Tanveer Ahmed. Attempts to defend interest are in vain,]

Jurists and economic experts agree that interest is the same as what is called usury in Islamic law, and it is strongly condemned. [Mabid Ali al-Jarhi and Munawar Iqbal. Islamic Banking: Answers to Some Common Questions, Islamic Development Bank, Occasional Paper No. 4, 2001.

Historically, all schools of thought have consistently recognized that riba and interest are the same. Based on this consensus, the Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recently issued a ruling in its Resolution No. 10 (10/2) supporting the historical consensus on the prohibition of interest. [Iqbal and Molyneux, page 9; IFC/2000]

Riba (usury), or bank interest if you prefer, is forbidden by the texts of the Quran and Sunnah. This is the conclusion reached by all jurists. [Nyazee, page 1]

Scholars established an academic consensus that both types of riba are not allowed, which ended any debate. [Zuhayli, Abdulkader Thomas, page 29]

The ban on riba al-nasia basically means Islamic law does not allow a predetermined positive return on a loan as a reward for waiting. In this sense, according to the consensus of all jurists, usury has the same meaning and significance as the modern concept of interest. It makes no difference whether a loan is for personal consumption or business purposes, or whether the loan is provided or accepted by a commercial bank.

Discussions about economics and finance are full of this kind of pious and absolutist language. However, the reality is not like this, and claiming a consensus exists is a common practice among scholars. The concept of consensus or unanimous agreement can only be viewed from a factual level, regardless of whether this consensus exists or has existed. The use of the word consensus itself inspires awe in believers because, according to the principles of jurisprudence, the concept of consensus carries the idea of religious infallibility and is therefore binding; opposing it might lead to being cast out by the orthodox.

While a detailed explanation of the concept of consensus in legal discourse is not the focus of this article and cannot be covered here, the question of whether there is a consensus on equating usury with interest—which would mean Islam forbids interest—requires a basic understanding of consensus. On one hand, ordinary Muslims easily misunderstand these issues and get misled. On the other hand, if we do not recognize and address the reality of the nature and problems of the concept of consensus from the start, then other pious scholars or even experts might distort these issues. To fully explain the doctrine of consensus, I encourage readers to read my book, Towards Our Reformation: From Legalism to Value-Oriented Law and Jurisprudence, published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought in 2011, specifically the chapter titled The Doctrine of Consensus: Is There a Consensus? This chapter covers the doctrine of consensus.

When it comes to consensus, people run into doctrinal problems right from the start. There is no consensus on the definition of consensus. Some define it as the consensus of the companions of the Prophet. Others define it as the consensus of scholars. Still others define it as the consensus of the entire world. Some believe consensus is reached through active participation, while others think silence in the face of any dissenting voice is acceptable. While some think consensus is binding on contemporary people, others believe that once a consensus is achieved, it is inviolable and binding forever.

By the 3rd and 4th centuries of the Hijri calendar, several orthodox schools of thought emerged, and each school had a broad consensus within itself. However, the existence of multiple schools of jurisprudence is not evidence of consensus, but rather evidence of a lack of consensus.

If you flip through The Hedaya (translated by Charles Hamilton, Darul Ishaat, Karachi, 1989), one of the main texts of Hanafi law, you can pick almost any topic at random. You can then see if the three elders of the Hanafi school—Imam Abu Hanifa and his two students, Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad—agree on most of the issues covered in the book. The reality is that no matter which definition you choose—the consensus of the companions, the scholars, or the entire Ummah—there are not actually many topics or issues where a consensus exists.

This is not to suggest or assert that consensus has not played a vital role in history, or that it has no role at all. Instead, this is to help people clearly realize that one neither needs nor should claim the sanctity of a concept when that concept simply does not have such recognized sanctity. as explained in the chapter on consensus [Farooq, 2010], except for a few broad and basic issues, there is almost nothing that can reach a consensus. Therefore, one needs to be cautious when accepting any claim that there is a consensus on something.

In fact, it is reported that Imam Hanbali, the founder of one of the four orthodox schools, made a cautionary assertion: Anyone who claims there is a consensus is a liar.

The position that this interest is riba is a general, orthodox stance. However, any claim of consensus regarding the equivalence of riba and interest should be treated with great caution. This is especially true because even the orthodox position cannot clarify any workable and agreed-upon definition of usury.

This may surprise many people, but as a prominent contemporary Pakistani orthodox jurist and scholar wrote: Despite the rampant activities in Islamic banking and finance, and despite the general agreement on the prohibition of usury, there is no agreement on the exact meaning of usury. For example, the Supreme Court of Pakistan issued a questionnaire in 1992, and the very first question was: What is the meaning of riba?

One would have thought that the Islamic Fiqh Academy or other religious groups would have formulated a definition for guidance, especially for investors. Although the academy's rulings are not binding on anyone and are only suggestions, a definition could have been refined through discussion for the benefit of all to suit modern transactions. A clear statement on the meaning of riba in the form of a definition would be very helpful, even for banks, especially Western banks. Unfortunately, no such definition was formulated. [Nyazee, 2000, p. 2]

Nyazee explained further: this might sound like an exaggeration, but it is not. Many scholars today insist that riba is not what we call interest in modern terms. However, most modern scholars insist that interest is forbidden. Even these scholars are not entirely sure which transactions riba covers. This uncertainty comes from the ambiguity surrounding riba and its rules.

Just as voices advocating for Islamic banking and finance grow stronger, other voices have existed in the past that challenge the relevance and overall Islamic nature of these institutions and their operations. Although only a few legal experts have provided fatwas (religious decrees), the literature on Islamic economics and finance has so far been unconvincing. It has failed to successfully clear up the doubts about the equivalence of so-called interest and usury, or perhaps not enough voices have been heard. [I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in, Part 2, page 179.]

This may be the only area in Sharia or law that involves risks worth hundreds of billions of dollars. many Sharia experts can accumulate significant worldly wealth. [See Owen Matthews, "How the West Runs Islamic Banking," Newsweek (October 31, 2005)]

While the orthodox position on the evolution of riba is not necessarily tainted by secular considerations, contemporary Islamic banking and finance (IBF) discourse does note the "debate over 'selling fatwas'... 'fatwa wars' and so on" [Warde, page 227].

The classical orthodox position centers on riba, while modern, contemporary discourse centers not only on riba but also on "riba-interest." Contemporary Sharia experts have little to say about the political tyranny or the concentration of wealth among the patrons of the IBF movement.

Different positions on riba and interest

Ibn Abbas [passed away in 687 AH]. Abdullah ibn Abbas was the cousin of the Prophet and was born two years before the Hijri calendar (622 AD). He is better known for his vast knowledge of traditions than for the controversial political role he played after the Prophet died.

Ibn Abbas and some of the Prophet's companions—Usama ibn Zayd, Abdullah ibn Masud, Urwa ibn Zubayr, Zayd ibn Arqam, and leading Meccan scholars—believed the only illegal riba was riba al-jahiliyyah (usury of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance).

The lender would ask the borrower on the due date: 'Will you pay back the debt or increase the debt?' The increased interest was usually achieved by charging accrued interest on interest that had already been calculated when the loan agreement was made. In contrast, riba al-Nasaiah and riba al-Fadl were considered legal according to the six items specified in famous hadith: gold, silver, wheat, barley, dates, and salt.

This liberal interpretation of riba relies on a hadith narrated by Ibn Abbas himself, which in his view had replaced the previous hadith. The authenticity of this final hadith about usury is generally not established, but it is interpreted in contradictory ways. It essentially says: 'There is no usury except for nasiah (nasiah is understood here as the usury of the pre-Islamic period of ignorance).' Opponents of Ibn Abbas's interpretation of this hadith argue that it places more emphasis on riba al-nasi'a rather than replacing the previous hadith. [Salih, pp. 26-27]

To better understand the position of Ibn Abbas, it is important to understand that if his position is true—and we have no reason to believe it is less authentic than other hadith or accounts about usury—then all views equating usury with interest cannot stand. This hadith can be found in Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Buyu, #2178. According to the position of Ibn Abbas reported in this hadith, there is no riba except for transactions involving deferred payments. Therefore, this position of Ibn Abbas denies the other form of riba al-Fadl. Schools of thought representing orthodox views believe all forms of interest or unreasonable deferred payments are forbidden. This general stance contradicts the position held by Ibn Abbas. Essentially, the account from Ibn Abbas suggests that only riba al-jahiliyyah, or pre-Islamic usury, is illegal. (Sahih, p. 27)

If only riba al-jahiliyyah is considered forbidden, then when a borrower cannot pay back a debt in full, the prohibition only applies if the principal amount increases or multiplies in an exploitative environment. In other words, a total ban on interest cannot be inferred from the ban on riba al-jahiliyyah, which is also called forbidden usury in the Quran. This is why the position of Ibn Abbas and other companions of the Prophet, who did not consider riba al-fadl to be forbidden, is so important. Riba al-fadl established a broader ban on riba, claiming to include all interest or specified excesses. As Nyazee reflects:

Definitions given by early jurists are now considered by many scholars to be unsuitable for modern transactions. In fact, most scholars limit this definition to the area of riba al-fadl as they understand it. [Nyazee, 2000, p. 2, fn.#7]

Given the ambiguity in the definition and understanding of usury, the position of Ibn Abbas rejecting the ban on riba al-fadl is a thorn in the side of the orthodox view. Therefore, there is a tendency to dismiss his claim by saying he changed his mind later, or by arguing he only meant to emphasize the presence of riba in transactions involving deferred payments. Fazlur Rahman discusses the position of Ibn Abbas in detail in his article "Riba and Interest" [Rahman 1964] and exposes the fallacies of those who try to explain away the variant position of Ibn Abbas. See also Farooq, 2007a.

Usama ibn Zayd:

Regarding the same hadith from Ibn Abbas mentioned above, another companion of the Prophet, Usama, also held the same view. Further discussion on this point can be found in an article by Dr. Raquib uz Zaman, "Monetary and Fiscal Policies of the State: Claims and Reality" [Zaman, 1988]. The implications of this view are the same as those of Ibn Abbas discussed above. [See Abdullah Saeed, p. 30]

Zayd ibn Arqam:

The riba prohibited by the Quran is known as riba al-Duyun, riba al-Jahili, or riba al-Nasiah. Some followers of the Prophet believed this was the only prohibited usury. They relied on a statement attributed to Ibn Abbas after Usama ibn Zayd, which means: "There is no usury except in Nasiah." [Saleh, op. cit.]

This argument also reflects the views of Zayd ibn Arqam, Bara ibn Azib, and Ibn Zubayr among the companions of the Prophet. [Dr. Engku Rabiah Adawiya Engku Ali, "riba and its Prohibition in Islam," International Islamic University Malaysia].

This view means the same thing as the opinion of Ibn Abbas discussed above. See also Saleh, pages 26-27.

It is reported that Bara ibn Azib held the same view on usury as the companions mentioned above. [Saleh, pages 26-27; Ingu Ali]

It is reported that Urwa ibn al-Zubayr held the same view on usury as the companions mentioned above. [Saleh, pages 26-27; Ingu Ali]

It is reported that Abdullah ibn Masud held the same view on usury as the companions mentioned above. [Saleh, pages 26-27] Dawud ibn Ali [passed away in 270 AH]

Dawud ibn Ali is better known as the founder of the Zahiri school. An article titled Zahirism by Dr. Omar Farrukh explains the Zahiri view on usury in detail.

The issue of usury: Usury is forbidden. However, a tradition regarding it creates difficulty. Related to this, the Prophet Muhammad said: '(You may) exchange gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat, barley for barley, dates for dates, and salt for salt, only in equal amounts and on the spot.'

For all other goods, you can trade as you wish, provided the barter happens on the spot. Early jurists concluded from this tradition that no quantity of any good should be bartered for a larger amount of the same good; otherwise, the surplus taken would be usury. However, if you exchange a certain amount of forged gold for a larger amount of unrefined gold, the surplus is a gain, or better yet, a wage for craftsmanship. they believed the six goods mentioned by the Prophet were only examples; therefore, exchanging copper, coffee, leather, apples, or wool for a larger amount of those same goods was also considered a form of usury by analogy. On the other hand, Dawud ibn Ali believed the Prophet Muhammad named those goods intentionally. If he had intended to extend the list, nothing would have stopped him from doing so. Therefore, if a person exchanges a certain amount of goods, such as iron, corn, apples, or pepper, for a larger amount of the same goods, the surplus is not usury, but a gain. [Farrukh, undated]

According to al-Zahiri, the forbidden usury in riba al-Fadl (barter exchange) only applies to the six goods specified by the Prophet in the hadith. Because the Zahiri school rejects analogical reasoning, it refuses to extend usury to other goods. This contradicts the IBF movement's stance of broadly banning all forms of excess (usury), including interest. Dawud al-Zahiri was very controversial, and many orthodox scholars were highly critical of him. However, later on, Imam Ibn Hazm also accepted Zahirism and became a more important symbol of the school than al-Zahiri himself. Ibn Hazm also took the same position as al-Zahiri. In other words, according to Zahirism, the scope of the prohibition is much more limited or narrow than the traditionally expanded prohibition.

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal [passed away in 273 AH]:

Even among classical scholars, there is a lot of room for disagreement regarding the definition and interpretation of usury. Imam Ahmad is considered the founder of one of the orthodox schools of jurisprudence. His position is that only riba al-jahiliyyah is illegal usury.

The Quran strongly condemns usury, but other than contrasting usury with charity and mentioning excessive doubling, it barely explains the meaning of the word. Commentators describe a pre-Islamic practice of delaying payment for a debtor in exchange for an increase in the principal (riba al-jahiliyyah). Because this practice was recorded as already existing at the time of revelation, it is a specific example of what is forbidden. Therefore, Ibn Hanbal, the founder of the Hanbali school, declared that this practice—paying or increasing interest—is the only form of usury and is undoubtedly forbidden. [Vogel and Hayes, pp. 72-73, citing Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, died 1350, I'lam al-muwaqqa'in 'ala rabb 'alamin, edited by Taha 'Abd al-Ra'uf Sa'd, Beirut: Dar al-Jil, 1973, 2:153-4]

Some argue that even if the validity of analogy as a source of law is accepted, extending the prohibition beyond the six commodities might violate one of the conditions for a valid analogy. The fifth condition for a valid analogy is that the legal wording of the original case must not be changed once the causal relationship is determined. The reason is that, in both letter and spirit, the textual prohibition takes precedence over analogy. Analogy is invalid when there is a textual law. Likewise, it is invalid if the legal wording of the original case is changed...[For example]... the Prophet only permitted the killing of five specific types of reptiles within the holy sanctuary. The analogy of these reptiles cannot be extended to other animals because the causal relationship changes the text's wording. Consequently, the number of animals exempted by the Prophet would exceed five. Therefore, this cannot be allowed. [Hassan, 1986, p. 23]

Once again, the argument for a total and general ban on interest goes against this position, as long as pre-Islamic interest (riba al-Jahiliyyah) is illegal.

Ibn Qudamah [passed away 1223 AD]:

He is a famous scholar of the Hanbali school. He believes that when a loan involves items that are neither weighed nor measured, the creditor should get back the original value. Although this view only applies to items that are not weighed or measured, it influenced the later, more general view of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah discussed below.

"If the borrowed item is neither weighed nor measured, one may choose to ask for an equivalent to be returned on the day of repayment, or ask for the value of the item on the day it was borrowed." Ibn Qudamah argues that for items without measurement or weight, there can be no equivalent, so the debtor must return to the creditor the value of the item when it first existed, which is the value at the time the loan contract was made. [W. M. Ballantyne, Commercial Law in the Arab Middle East: The Gulf States (London: Lloyds of London Press, 1986), pp. 125-6; *refer to Al-Mughni, Vol. 4, pp. 357-8]

Imam Ibn Taymiyyah [passed away 1328 AD]:

Imam Ibn Taymiyyah needs almost no introduction, and his views build further upon those of Ibn Qudamah. He explains that a lender should be able to recover the original value or its inflation-adjusted value, which relates to the difference between nominal and real value. From his perspective, it follows that there cannot be a total ban on interest. This means that nominal interest, which only covers the inflation premium, would not be forbidden. In this case, you cannot say interest is forbidden, but positive real interest is. Ibn Taymiya, an independent Hanbali scholar whose views are often supported by legal modernists, argued that a lender should recover the original value.

There is reason to believe Ibn Taymiya's view should be adopted because the lender is not involved in the trade and does not make a real profit from it. If he cannot cover losses caused by inflation, he will be even less willing to provide interest-free loans. [W. M. Ballantyne, Commercial Law in the Arab Middle East: The Gulf States (London: Lloyd's of London Press, 1986), pp. 125-6]

Ebusuud Efendi, Mufti of Istanbul from 1545 to 1574 AD:

Perhaps the oldest statement of this kind was made by Ebusuud Efendi, the Mufti of Istanbul between 1545 and 1574 AD, who held the title of Sheikh ul-Islam toward the end of his term. Ebusuud defended this practice of collecting interest, especially for charitable foundations (waqf), arguing it was a practical necessity. As expected, this minority view, while endorsed by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman, was rejected by most scholars in the Arab world who continued to support interest-free loans and traditional partnership financing. Because of this, European banking models were not widely adopted in the Islamic world until the 18th century. [el-Gamal, 2000; online, page 2]

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan [1817-1898 CE]:

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was a reformist leader of the Aligarh Movement in India and the founder of Aligarh Muslim University. The confusing issue of banning usury or any transaction involving usury was solved by translating the word 'riba' as usury and distinguishing it from the Western concept of interest. This was the line of thinking adopted in India by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and others in his school of thought, such as Nazir Ahmad and Syed Tufail Ahmad Manglori. Some Egyptian scholars (ulama), such as Tawfik Affendi and Sh. Islamil Khalil, along with modernists in Turkey, expressed the same view. [Fazlur Rahman Gunnauri, pages 24-25]

"... His focus on social cohesion, social progress, and social justice influenced his resistance to the standard prohibition of usury (interest) held by scholars until then. He asserted that this ban should only apply to the debts of poor people who borrowed money out of necessity. It should not apply to those who contribute to public interest by constantly expanding commercial activities. [Charles Tripp, Islam and the Moral Economy: The Challenge of Capitalism [Cambridge University Press, 2006, page 26, citing J. M. S. Baljon, The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (Lahore, 1970), pages 34-49] Muhammad Abduh [1849-1905] and Muhammad Rashid Rida [1865-1935]

Muhammad Rashid Rida:

It is claimed that according to the Grand Mufti of Egypt Muhammad Abduh (who passed away in 1905) and his disciple Muhammad Rashid Rida, what was forbidden was the form used during the Age of Ignorance. Nabil Saleh summarizes the views of Abduh and Rida by stating that, according to them, the first increase on a regular loan is lawful, but if a decision is made at the due date to postpone it for a further increase, this is forbidden. This view is clearly based on reports in the commentary of Tabari regarding how usury was practiced in the pre-Islamic period. These scholars did not explicitly and openly suggest that interest is acceptable without any restrictions. [Saeed, p. 43; For similar observations, see also Saleh, p. 28; El-Gamal: 'Rashid Rida on Usury']. Abdullah Saeed discusses the following based on Muhammad Rashid Rida (who passed away in 1935), a prominent scholar and disciple of Shaikh Muhammad Abduh.

'... Among the authentic hadith attributed to the Prophet regarding usury, there is one that seems to mention the terms loan (qard) or debt (dayn).' The fact that no loan or debt is mentioned in hadith related to usury led a minority of jurists to argue that the usury actually forbidden refers to certain forms of sales mentioned in the hadith literature. [Cited from Rida, al-Riba wa al-Mu'amalat fil al-Islam, Cairo: Maktabat al-Qahira, 1959, p. 11] Abduh's views are primarily known through the works of his disciple Rida. Their views did not receive any blanket approval. The reality is the opposite. In this context, they did not agree with any simple equation between riba and interest, and they even approved of certain forms of interest.

Whatever Abduh's exact intentions were, his ambivalence about equating all forms of interest with usury echoes the ongoing reassessment of the limits of legality in a changing environment. [Tripp, ibid., p. 127]

Ulama (scholars) from India and Mecca [1920s AD]:

Some scholars believe that only consumer loans fall under the prohibition of usury, because borrowers may be at a disadvantage for various reasons and are vulnerable to injustice and exploitation. This position and the basic argument may be questionable, but in this paper, each different position is not studied in detail. Instead, the facts being presented contradict the claims of a consensus regarding the equivalence of riba and interest.

Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zayd (1930):

He was a sheikh from Damanhur, Egypt. He earned the anger of the orthodox for his book 'Al-hidaya 'irfan fi tafsir al-Qur'an bil-Qur'an'. In 1930, Abu Zayd tried to use independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) to explain current riba practices, insisting that only excessively high interest is illegal. [Jansen, J. J. G., The Interpretation of the Modern Egypt, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1980, p. 89, mentioned by Jay Smith in January 1996,

Dr. Marouf al-Daoualibi:

In the 1930s, Syrian scholar Marouf al-Daoualibi suggested that the Quran only forbids interest on consumer loans, not interest on investment loans. In the 1940s, Egyptian jurist Sanhuri argued that only compound interest should be forbidden.

Shaikh Mohammad Abd Allah Draz was a member of the Grand Ulema institution and a professor at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Shaikh Draz earned his doctorate at the Sorbonne University. [Saleh, p. 29] mentions that his position contradicts the idea that usury is the same as interest. His position was mentioned in an appeal to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which opposed treating all interest in the country as part of Sharia.

Zaidan Abu Karim Hassan:

[Saleh, p. 29] mentions this scholar's different position in his book. Abdullah Yusuf Ali [passed away in 1953]

Abdullah Yusuf Ali is perhaps the author of the most popular English translation of the Quran. Instead of equating riba with usury, he distinguishes between them, writing in footnote #324 of The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary [Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, 2nd edition, 1988]:

Usury is condemned and forbidden in the strongest terms, and there is no doubt about this prohibition. When we talk about the definition of usury, there is room for disagreement. According to Ibn Kathir, Hazrat Umar found this matter difficult because the Messenger left this world before the details of the issue were fully resolved. This was one of three issues he hoped to receive more revelation about from the Messenger, with the other two being the Caliphate (Khilafat) and the inheritance of distant relatives (Kalalat). Our scholars (ulama), both ancient and modern, have written a great deal of literature on usury. I agree with their views on the main principles, but I differ from them on the definition of usury. Because this topic is very controversial, I will not discuss it in this commentary, but will address it elsewhere at an appropriate time. The definition I accept is: unfair profit earned from loans of gold and silver, and from necessities like wheat, barley, dates, and salt (based on the list mentioned by the Prophet himself), rather than through legitimate trade. My definition includes various forms of profiteering, but it does not include economic credit, which is a product of modern banking and finance.

Muhammad Asad [1900-1992]:

Muhammad Asad, the famous author of The Message of the Quran, does not equate interest with usury, but rather equates riba with usury. His commentary on this matter explains:

This is the earliest mention of the word and concept of usury in the chronology of the Quranic revelations. In a general linguistic sense, the term means an increase or addition of something beyond its original size or amount. In technical terms, it refers to an illegal increase of money or goods lent by one person or group to another person or group at interest. Considering the economic conditions of their time or earlier, most early jurists linked this illegal increase to profits gained through any form of interest-bearing loan, regardless of the interest rate or economic motive involved. In summary, as shown by the vast legal literature on this subject, scholars have not been able to reach an absolute consensus on the definition of usury that would cover all possible legal situations and address all emergencies in changing economic environments.

In the words of Ibn Kathir, the subject of usury is one of the most difficult subjects for many scholars (ahl al-ilm). It should be remembered that the passages legally condemning and prohibiting usury (2:275-281) were the last revelations received by the Prophet, who passed away a few days later (see the note on 2:281). Therefore, the companions did not have the chance to ask him about the implications of the prohibition for Islamic law, to the point that it is reliably narrated that Umar ibn al-Khattab said: The last thing revealed was the passage about usury; Lo, the Prophet passed away without explaining its meaning to us (Ibn Hanbal, on the authority of Said ibn al-Musayyab). However, the harsh condemnation of usury and those who consume it—especially when viewed against the backdrop of human economic experience in the following centuries—clearly shows its nature and its social and moral impact. Roughly speaking, the condemnation of usury refers to profits gained through interest-bearing loans that involve the exploitation of the economically weak by the strong and resourceful. This exploitation is characterized by the lender retaining full ownership of the loan capital and having no legal concern for the purpose of the loan, maintaining a contractually guaranteed profit regardless of any losses the borrower might suffer from the transaction or how the borrower uses the money. Considering this definition, we realize that the question of which types of financial transactions fall into the category of usury is, in the final analysis, a moral issue closely related to the socio-economic motives behind the relationship between the borrower and the lender. From a purely economic view, this is about how both sides can fairly share profits and risks in a loan deal. It is impossible to answer this dual question in a rigid, once-and-for-all way. Our answers must change as human society and technology develop, which also changes our economic environment. While the condemnation of the concept and practice of usury is clear and final, every generation faces the challenge of giving this term new dimensions and economic meanings. For lack of a better word, this term might be interpreted as usury.

Professor Fazlur Rahman [passed away in 1988]:

Fazlur Rahman (1911-88) was perhaps the most learned of the major thinkers in the second half of the twentieth century, both in classical and Western philosophical and theological discourse. He came from a Punjabi family immersed in traditional learning. He then went on to study modern critical thinking at Oxford University under H. A. R. Gibb and Van Der Bergh. Overall, he was a dedicated teacher and research scholar, especially innovative in his Avicenna studies, and held positions at Durham, McGill in Montreal, and the University of California. From 1969 until his death, he served as a professor at the University of Chicago. [M. Yahya Birt, Information on Fazlur Rahman, 1996] As one of the most prominent scholars of the last century, his work on riba and interest is essential reading. He challenged the traditional position that equates usury with interest. [Rahman, 1964]

Allamah Iqbal Ahmad Khan Suhail:

Allamah Suhail studied under famous Indian scholars like Allamah Shibli Nomani. His book written in the 1930s, "What is Usury?" only recently became available in English. This is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the challenges of equating usury with interest. He uses classical sources to show how traditional, orthodox views on equating usury with interest are simplistic and wrong, and how Quranic verses and relevant hadith about usury are misunderstood and misused.

Maulana Sa'id was the Grand Mufti of Darul Uloom (Waqf) in Deoband. Following general Hanafi Fiqh, and specifically the Deobandi tradition, he believed that interest-based transactions are conditionally allowed in non-Muslim countries, especially charging interest to non-Muslims. In a fatwa regarding bank interest and insurance, Maulana Sa'id argued:

"...there is no doubt that giving one rupee to a non-Muslim and taking back two rupees from him with his consent is correct, because this [excess amount] is not usury." (Suhail, page 192)

In fact, this is the consistent position of Deoband and its leaders and scholars. The meaning of this position is that it does not align with any total ban on usury, let alone interest.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad:

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) is a famous figure in modern Indian history. He is also a famous scholar. I have not yet confirmed his views directly from his own writings. However, his views are mentioned in testimony given during the Pakistan Supreme Court hearings on the issue of banning interest.

To support the argument that charging interest on bank loans does not violate Sharia, the lawyer mentioned Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz pointed out that Maulana Azad's Quranic commentary (tafseer) is incomplete and only covers 17 sections. The lawyer replied that this made no difference to him because the commentary on the Chapter of the Cow (Surah Al-Baqarah) he wanted to mention is complete. He said that the application of the verse is limited to the poor class and does not apply to all transactions.

Sheikh Mahmoud Shaltut:

Sheikh Mahmoud Shaltut (1893-1963) was a prominent Egyptian scholar. From 1958 to 1963, he was also an imam at Al-Azhar University in Egypt. Dr. Fathi Osman mentions the following on page 919 of his book.

Muhammad Abduh, the prominent Egyptian mufti, believed that interest paid by post offices on savings there was halal. This view was later supported by former Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mahmud Shaltut [who passed away in 1962]. he allowed interest on national bonds if economic development and personal or public interest required issuing them [al-Fatawa, Issue 8, Cairo: 1975, pp. 351-355]. Shaltut also agreed in advance to any fixed-interest transactions offered by the state, state-affiliated institutions, or any agency connected to the state, assuming there was no exploitation by any party in those cases.

Dr. Said Ashmawi, an Egyptian religious reformer and former chief justice:

Ashmawi's argument is interesting. He points out that in the early days, usury led to the enslavement of debtors, such as debtors being sold as slaves by the Prophet according to the hadith. For the interpretation and dating of this hadith, which stands in opposition to later laws, see Irene Schneider, Kinderverkauf und Schuldknechtschaft (Stuttgart, 1999), p. 74ff., which is a response to H. Mozki, “Der Prophet und die Schuldner,” Der Islam 77 (2000), p. 1ff. [Book review of Schari'a und Moderne: Diskussionen über Schwangerschaftsabbruch, Versicherung und Zinsen, by Rüdiger Lohlker. (Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes) 156 pages, bibliography. Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, 1996. (Thesis) ISBN: 3-515065-822; Reviewer, Adam Sabra, University of Michigan, note #1]

Shaykh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi was the highest-ranking scholar and cleric at Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti of Egypt.

A more extreme and recent example is the view of Egyptian Mufti Shaykh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi. In 1989, he declared that interest from certain government investments based on interest was not forbidden usury. He argued that the earnings were little different from sharing in the profits of the government's use of funds, or that bank deposit contracts were new. By doing this, he joined a small group of famous religious figures who issued fatwas declaring clear interest-based practices to be permissible. This fatwa caused a storm of controversy. Almost all traditional religious scholars opposed it, while secular modernizers praised it warmly. Later, he went even further, saying that interest-bearing bank deposits were completely lawful, especially compared to accounts that imposed unfavorable conditions on customers. He suggested that the law should change the legal terms used for bank interest and bank accounts to clarify that they were free from the stain of usury. [Vogel and Hayes, page 46]

Although he was a traditional and orthodox scholar in every way, his position was met with harsh and flat rejection by other scholars. However, this is an illustrative case for those who think, argue, or claim that only heretical or deviant scholars or intellectuals could possibly hold a different position challenging the equivalence of interest to usury. Yet, as Mahmoud Jamal pointed out, the basis for this fatwa goes back at least a century. The basis for this fatwa is at least a century old.

Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf [1888-1956]:

Dr. Abd al-Wahhab Khallaf was a famous scholar and jurist from Al-Azhar. Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh) was one of his main fields, and he made valuable academic contributions in these areas. Sheikh Tantawi drew on some important opinions from Dr. Abdul Wahab Khallaf when he formulated the aforementioned religious ruling (fatwa).

Tantawi (2001, p. 131) quotes word-for-word similar statements from Khallaf (pp. 94-104), Al-Khafif (pp. 165-204), and others (pp. 204-211), saying: 'In this era of corruption, dishonesty, and greed, not fixing the profit (as a percentage of capital) will leave the principal at the mercy of the investment fund's agent, whether it is a bank or another institution.' [Quoted from Mahmoud El Gamal's introduction, available on the La Riba Bank website]

Sheikh Nasr Farid Wasil, Tantawi's successor as the Grand Mufti of Egypt:

Sheikh Nasr Farid Wasil echoed his predecessor, Sheikh Tantawi, in 1997 by simply stating that the controversy over bank interest should end because 'there is no such thing as an Islamic bank and a non-Islamic bank.' [Tripp, ibid., p. 130]

'I will give you a final and decisive ruling (fatwa)... as long as the bank invests the money in permissible venues, then the transaction is permissible.' Otherwise, it is forbidden... there is no such thing as an Islamic or non-Islamic bank. Therefore, let us stop this controversy over bank interest.' [Al-Ittihad (UAE), August 22, 1997]

Dr. Fathi Osman:

Dr. Fathi Osman is a famous scholar. He has taught at famous universities in the Middle East, Asia, and the West. In his highly praised work, Dr. Osman responds to Muhammad Asad's views on this issue and adds the following commentary on verses 275-281 of al-Baqarah:

The verses above deal with illegal riba, followed by other verses involving loan contracts between people. Usury, or riba in Arabic, was mentioned earlier. Riba can include any illegal increase on the principal if that increase is unfair and therefore harmful to individuals and society. As Ibn Kathir noted in his commentary on verse 2:275, and as other commentators and jurists have noted, riba is one of the most difficult subjects in law. This is because the verses prohibiting riba, along with what the Prophet said about riba during his Farewell Pilgrimage sermon, appeared in the final days of the Prophet's life. Therefore, according to a manuscript by Ibn Hanbal, the companions did not have the chance to ask him about this matter, and even Caliph Umar expressed a wish that the Prophet could have provided some explanation. Generally, riba relates to loans that involve exploiting the economically weak: the borrower might only be using the money to meet basic living needs. Even if he or she uses the loan for investment, the interest they receive might be less than what the lender gets in any case, or the borrower might lose everything. In his commentary on the above verses, Muhammad Asad correctly points out: "...we recognize that the question of which types of financial transactions fall into the category of riba is closely related to socio-economic motives." The motives mentioned here are the motives for lending and borrowing, which, beyond the genuine agreement of the borrower and lender, relate to mutual gains and losses and the circumstances upon which fair interest in a transaction is based. So, this is a question of how both sides fairly share the profits and risks of a loan deal. Our answer must change as things change. These changes might happen in the situation of the parties involved, the society, or the economy.

What Muhammad Asad clarified is vital. Usury is not the name of a specific physical object. It is a transaction between two or more people that can only be understood within its historical and social context. Explaining usury as an increase or addition does not explain the issue, because any legal profit is also an increase. Linking the word increase to a loan might not be convincing enough. You must consider the situation of the society and the traders, because a loan might provide mutual benefit or social usefulness. Therefore, the socio-economic background is necessary to define socio-economic practices and to clarify the harm and injustice in a transaction that provides a legal basis for prohibition. The scriptures about usury are few, and the Prophet passed away before detailing answers to questions about it. In his Farewell Sermon, he mentioned usury only in the context of loans between Arabs before the time of ignorance (al-jahiliyyah), which emphasizes the historical and social context of this transaction.

Some modern jurists ignore historical development and socio-economic differences and changes. They tend to treat the word interest used in modern transactions, such as banking, insurance, and mortgages, as if it were the exact synonym for usury. This ignores the modern development of banking and insurance businesses and independent institutions. It leads to a separation between financing and financial investment on one side, and production, whether agricultural, industrial, or commercial, on the other. Also, the time factor has become vital in modern transactions. Revolutionary changes in transport and communication have had a huge impact on the circulation of money, the flow and availability of cash, and therefore the demand for credit.

Transactions made by phone, fax, or computer have sped up, which increases the risk factor. The modern global village we live in has developed mass production and mass marketing, which require huge capital. An Australian company might have businesses in Malaysia or Pakistan and might rely on financing from American or European banks. This creates a need for specialized institutions to handle financing and provide financial services that differ from the long-term or medium-term operations and risks of agricultural, industrial, or commercial businesses. These financial institutions benefit a wide range of shareholders, depositors, and borrowers, and they are usually not owned by individuals. Legal protections can therefore prevent monopolies and various forms of fraud and exploitation. The central bank has a supervisory and controlling role over financial activities and financial institutions. Also, money no longer exists in the form of gold or silver, so it cannot keep its value stable. Over time, fluctuations in currency value and inflation in commodity prices affect the purchasing power of money. All these qualitative changes in the contemporary world economy must be considered deeply to accurately determine the nature and role of interest.

The famous Egyptian jurist and professor of Islamic law at Cairo University, Abdel-Wahab Khallaf (who returned to Allah in January 1956), cited late Hanafi sources in his distinguished book Ilm Usul al-Fiqh (first edition, 1942). This source allows borrowing if the borrower is in need, and the loan can be repaid with an extra amount (page 210). 12th edition, Kuwait, 1978. here that, in general, even if there is a clear and explicit prohibition against something, Allah allows an individual to do it in cases of necessity (for example, 2:173; 5:3; 6:119, 145). 16:115], he allows society to do the same in cases of common need [for example, see Khallaf, 'Ilm Usul al-Fiqh, pp. 208-210; al-Juwayni, Imam ul-Haramayn Abdul-Malik, Ghiyath al-Umam, edited by Fu'ad Abdel Mun'im, Mustafa Hilmi, Cairo: no date, p. 345])

Dr. Ibrahim Shihata [1937-2001]:

Dr. Shihata was a legal scholar who served as General Counsel of the World Bank and Secretary-General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. "There is no doubt that usury is prohibited by the two main sources of law—the Quran and Sunnah. However, neither of these sources defines the scope of this prohibition. A rational interpretation of these sources suggests that as an exception to the general rule of freedom of contract, this prohibition should be interpreted strictly according to its underlying rationale, which is to help transactions rather than complicate them. Therefore, prohibited usury can cover cases of clear enrichment in trade and loan operations without justification, to ensure the fairness of these transactions and protect weaker parties from unfair exploitation and excessive uncertainty. [Some comments on the issue of usury and the challenges faced by 'Islamic banking']

Dr. Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi:

Dr. Naqvi is a leading economist in Pakistan and holds a PhD from Princeton University. From 1979 to 1995, he served as the Director of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics in Islamabad. He also wrote Ethics and Economics: An Islamic Synthesis [UK: Islamic Foundation, 1981]. He is very cautious about equating interest with usury, especially when trying to abolish interest while keeping the capitalist system mostly intact. He is also unwilling to take a clear stand on the issue of banning interest. Because of this, he hedges his observations by saying, "if [interest] is identified as usury." In the article Banking: An Assessment, he writes:

Banking theory is caught between two related logical statements: (i) usury is equivalent to all modern interest-based financial transactions, including bank interest; (i) usury is equivalent to all modern interest-based financial transactions; (i) usury is equivalent to all modern interest-based financial transactions; (i) usury is equivalent to all modern interest-based financial transactions; (ii) profit-based banking—more accurately, a banking system proposed according to general profit and loss sharing (PLS) principles, without any guaranteed support for bank deposits or bank advance returns—is superior to capitalist interest-based banking. These two assertions, although (wrongly) viewed by most thinkers as absolute truths not limited by space and time, do raise difficult theoretical and empirical questions, and there are no simple answers. As for the first assertion—that bank interest is usury and therefore forbidden, while profit is allowed—the root of the difficulty is that in a capitalist system, interest and profit are inseparable; in fact, the two are connected like Siamese twins. The mainstream view among secular economists is that average interest rates are determined by the same set of forces that determine the rate of profit on capital invested in production, independent of monetary variables (Panica, 1991). Changes in the rate of profit are caused by changes in interest rates, speculative trading, and productivity (Pindyck, 1988). Therefore, separating the twins requires a complex surgical operation on the economic structure.

in a world without a surplus of capital, the possibility of zero interest rates is flatly denied, because it is hard to imagine people having enough savings to drive the net productivity of capital down to zero. However, this does not mean we should not abolish bank interest if it is considered usury, but we should clearly realize that once interest is permanently abolished as a source of income in a capitalist economy, we simply do not know what the results of this step will be. In the same article, Naqvi also asserts: "Contrary to popular concepts, risk and uncertainty do not necessarily constitute the characteristics of interest that are illegal in Islamic law, which is the meaning of usury." echoing those who believe exploitation and injustice are the focus of scholars and experts, Naqvi wrote: "Economists have widely pointed out that the reason for prohibiting usury ('illat al-hukm) is not just the mathematical formula used to calculate it itself;" Instead, it is its so-called adverse effect on the distribution of income and wealth.

Professor Salim Rashid:

Professor Rashid holds a Ph. D. in economics from Yale University. Currently, he is a professor of economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In an unpublished, privately circulated paper titled 'The Value of Time and Risk in Islamic Economics' (1983), he explains his questions regarding the equivalence of riba and interest, and why denying the 'time value of money' from an Islamic perspective leads to anomalies and makes economics inefficient from an economic standpoint. He wrote: "If Islam truly does not allow any time discrimination regarding economic value, then the Islamic system must be economically inefficient." This is not the case.

Dr. Imad-ad-Deen Ahmad:

He is an American scholar and the president of the Minaret of Freedom Institute. His views are explained in an article titled: "riba and interest: Definitions and Implications."

Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina:

Dr. Sachedina is a professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia. His views are explained in an article titled: "The Problem of Usury in Faith and Law."

Dr. Omar Afzal:

Dr. Afzal earned a doctorate in linguistics from Cornell University, is an alumnus of Aligarh University, and holds an Alim degree (Islamic and Arabic studies) from IHIS Rampur. He is a distinguished linguist who is fluent in many languages from the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. He has expertise in Islamic law, Islamic history, contemporary Islamic movements, the Islamic calendar, and modern Islamic thought. He worked at Cornell University for twenty-six years. He guided several research projects and earned his doctorate and master's degrees. He is a prolific writer, an editor of The Message, and a member of the law faculty. He also served as the chairman of the Center for Research and Communication and the Committee for Crescent Observation International.

In an article titled "Riba: Interest, Usury or Both?", he wrote: "[It] is an attempt to open a debate on 'interest'—a term well-known in modern monetary transactions and legalistic views." Modern banking is largely based on the traditional interpretation of "usury," which does not distinguish between "usury" and "interest." It is also an undeniable fact that modern financial institutions like banks and insurance companies must be corrected to reduce fraud and provide better service. However, any Islamic solution must also be judged by similar standards of "justice" and social responsibility.

Banking is a new phenomenon, and so is interest, which is different from usury. Over the past few decades, it has become an essential part of normal human life. Even those who call interest usury have bank accounts, write checks, use credit cards, and take out loans to buy homes. All Muslim countries, including those that are officially Islamic states, actively participate in interest-based banking. Islamic scholars (ulama) should sit down with economists and experts in finance and development to find ways to align the intentions of Allah with the needs of modern economy and development.

Dr. M. Raquib uz Zaman:

Dr. Zaman served as the Charles A. Dana Professor of Finance and International Business and as chair of the Department of Business Administration at Ithaca College in New York. He has published many academic works in the fields of Islamic economics, finance, and banking. Please visit his webpage for a complete list. Several of his articles are available on the learning resources page. "In Islamic law, there is no preliminary evidence to prove that all interest is usury. So-called Islamic banks are neither Islamic banks nor commercial banks in the true sense. Islamic fiscal policy is more like a lofty slogan than a practical policy tool for today's governments to adopt." [Monetary and Fiscal Policies of Islamic Countries: Claims and Reality]

Dr. Hormoz Movassaghi:

Dr. Movassaghi is a professor and associate dean at the School of Business at Ithaca College (New York). He has co-authored many research works on Islamic finance and banking with Dr. M. Raquib uz Zaman (mentioned above).

Dr. Abdullah Saeed:

Dr. Sayyid is a professor of Arab and Islamic studies for the Sultan of Oman and the director of the Centre for Contemporary Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne. From a critical perspective, his book, Islamic Banking and Interest: A Study of the Prohibition of Riba and its Contemporary Interpretation, is a must-read.

Dr. Mahmoud El-Gamal:

Dr. El-Gamal is the chair of the Islamic economics, finance, and management department at Rice University, and a professor of economics and statistics. He has published many academic works in this field. He also maintains an active blog. He is known for emphasizing the mutual benefits of organizing Islamic financial institutions, which is not the case at present. Therefore, we discard overly simplistic and incorrect assertions that Islamic finance is 'interest-free' or that it denies the 'time value of money'. [El-Gamal, "The Economic Wisdom of the Prohibition of Riba", Thomas, p. 123]

While Dr. El-Gamal does assert that "...no one can correctly deny that interest on loans is the prohibited riba an-nasiah," he also challenges the simplistic and general equation of riba and interest. "Not all interest is prohibited riba,... [and] not all riba is interest."

Dr. Muhammad Shawqi al-Fanjari:

Dr. al-Fanjari once taught economics at Al-Azhar University in Egypt. He wrote a book titled The Essence of Economic Policy in the Importance of Islamic Economics, which is available online. Like any Muslim, he views usury as forbidden. However, when discussing public interest or common interest, he wrote that interest changes depending on the situation. He acknowledged, without criticism, the views of some scholars who avoid making a blanket statement between riba and interest.

What is considered beneficial in one situation might not be considered beneficial in another. Imam al-Shatibi said on this matter: We believe most things we call good or bad are relative, not absolute. Things are good or harmful in one situation but not in another, and for one person but not for someone else. They are that way at a specific time, but not at another time.

Perhaps this is why some scholars believe interest from savings accounts, government bonds, and investment certificates is not usury (see Sheltout 1969 303, and Khallaf and Abou Zahra 1951).

Dr. Rasul Shams:

Hamburg Institute of International Economics: Religion can promote the development of science, but it is not meant to establish different branches of science. We cannot find any basis to prove that Islamic economics is a science based on the prohibition of interest. ["A Critical Assessment of Islamic Economics", Hamburg Institute of International Economics, 2004]

Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics, University of Alberta, Canada:

Professor Noorzoy distinguishes between nominal terms and real terms. Although he seems to genuinely consider excessive behavior, distinguishing between real interest and nominal interest does not align with the traditional position held by schools of Islamic law, which maintain that any indexation based on inflation is singular. "Traditional interpretations of riba laws show that when usury is converted into average interest, the loan principal is not allowed to 'increase'. However, is this 'increase' measured in real value or nominal value, and therefore, should a real interest rate or a nominal interest rate be applied to the loan? The interpretation of 'increase' in laws involving usury includes both nominal and real forms. According to usury of delay (riba al-nasi'ah), 'increase' refers to the nominal measure of the loan principal. However, according to usury of surplus (riba al-fadl), growth is measured by real value because the law refers to non-monetized barter transactions, where any change in value is measured in real terms. ["Islamic Law on Usury (Interest) and Its Economic Implications"]

Dr. Mohammad Fadel:

Dr. Fadel is an assistant professor of law at the University of Toronto. He holds a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago. In a conference discussion on page 7 of Volume 1, Issue 2 of the International Journal of Islamic Financial Services, Dr. Fadel explained his position on the equivalence of riba and interest. The type of usury that applies to credit sales is called usury of delay (riba nasi'a). Nasi'a means delay. The same structure applies here as well. Credit sales are not restricted by the rules of usury of delay (riba nasi'a) unless there is evidence that the traded goods have been marked for special regulation. However, the reason for prohibiting this type of usury is solely the delay in exchange (nasi'a), not the difference between the cash price and the credit price. To give another example, selling a car for a cash price of $10,000 or a credit price of $12,000 to be paid over 5 years is not prohibited under the rules of usury of delay (riba nasi'a): according to the jurists (fuqaha'), goods simply have two different prices, a cash price and a credit price. This transaction does not involve usury because the buyer is taking on a debt, rather than increasing the value of an existing debt in exchange for more time to pay it back. Therefore, it also does not involve pre-Islamic usury (riba al-jahiliyya). However, according to economists, the price difference is a function of the time value of money, which is interest. Therefore, the words riba and interest are not synonyms, and we should stop confusing them. Some usury is interest, but not all of it. For example, trading one pound of high-quality dates for two pounds of lower-quality dates does not involve the time value of money at all, yet it is described as usury. Similarly, some interest is usury, but not all of it. If I owe a bank 100 dollars and agree to delay payment by increasing the debt I owe in exchange for the debt, this is both interest and usury. However, if I buy a car on credit, I will pay interest, but I will not be paying usury.

Dr. Muhammad, also known as Abu Yusuf Khalil Correnti, studied in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen according to the religious beliefs of Sunni, Shia, and Zaydi followers, specializing in law. He earned his doctorate in Islamic law (sharia) from McGill University. His academic works include books on eschatology, faith, and practice, as well as translations of religious literature by other scholars. He is currently a professor of religious studies at San Diego State University. In answering a question put to him, he wrote: Let us not consume usury many times over (3:130). This statement exists because, according to the mufassir, when a person borrowed money in the pre-Islamic period and promised to repay it within a year, they were asked to pay the amount due at the end of that period. If they could not pay, they would extend the time for another year, but the amount owed would double. Da'f means doubling (3:130). If they could not pay at the end of the second year, the amount owed would double again, which meant that in many cases, the amortized amount would become several times higher than the original loan amount. This practice is called riba, which translates to usury in modern terms.

In my view, many scholars, experts, and professionals in Islamic finance do not believe that riba and interest are the same thing. For example, read the book Islamic Finance in the Global Economy by Ibrahim Warde (Edinburgh University Press, 2000) and see if you can determine his personal stance on whether riba equals interest Collapse Read »

Reposted from the web

Summary: This Kuala Lumpur halal food map issue 6 follows the author's long stay near KLCC and covers Chef Eyad smoked barbecue, IKEA, The Chicken Rice Shop, Shawarma City, Sprezzatura Kafe, Supamala Sichuan hot pot, Bake With Yen, Monster Sushi, Grumpy Bagels, Nando's, and family-friendly Muslim travel meals.

Recently, I came to Kuala Lumpur while accompanying my child during their studies. I stayed for a long time and dug into the restaurants near my home. After this period of exploration, I found that my taste has completely failed in Malaysia. If I am in China, if I think a restaurant's food tastes good, then most people will find it delicious, and my taste is relatively close to the masses. However, in Kuala Lumpur, I don’t think the restaurants that locals like to eat are delicious, especially the Malay cuisine. I have tried several local popular online restaurants in succession, but they all turned out to be disappointing. Malay people have a strong taste, and most of their dishes are salty, spicy and fried. I still prefer lighter dishes, but the Middle Eastern cuisine I have eaten in Kuala Lumpur is very delicious and almost never lets me down.

Early review:

Kuala Lumpur Halal Food Map (Issue 5)

Kuala Lumpur Halal Food Map (Issue 4)

Kuala Lumpur Halal Food Map (Issue 3)

Kuala Lumpur Halal Food Map (Issue 2)

The restaurants in this issue are as follows:

1. Chef Eyad (smoked barbecue)

2. IKEA (Swedish restaurant)

3. THE CHICKEN RICE SHOP (Hainan Chicken Rice)

4. SHAWARMA CITY (Turkish & Syrian cuisine)

5. SPREZZATURA KAFE (light meal)

6. SUPAMALA (Sichuan hot pot)

7. Bake With Yen Chow Kit (baking supplies supermarket)

8. MONSTER SUSHI (conveyor belt sushi)

9. GRUMPY BAGELS (bakery shop)

10. Nando's (roast chicken)

1. Chef Eyad (smoked barbecue)



This is a Middle Eastern-style smoked barbecue restaurant, not far from the apartment where I live, with the Twin Towers in the background. I often pass by it, and then I thought of checking out the store. I was pleasantly surprised and have already visited it for the second time.



Most restaurants in Malaysia do not have halal certification, because the official unified halal certification is very expensive, tens of thousands of ringgit, so restaurants will use some obscure ways to express halal, because restaurants without certification are not allowed to label halal without authorization.



This kind of charcoal-smoked barbecue is also American-style barbecue, but it’s better to emphasize American-style here than just mention smoke.



This store is still an international chain store, but its branches are all open in Middle Eastern countries. We had a particularly delicious American barbecue restaurant in Dubai, and we couldn’t forget it after we returned home. We didn’t expect there to be one right outside our doorstep.



The first time I came alone, I saw an American-style burger on the menu and decided to order a beef one.



This smoked beef burger is very delicious. It has two layers of meat, one layer of patty and one layer of smoked beef. The quality of the beef is excellent, it is all lean meat, and it is grilled to a soft and chewy texture.





In a restaurant opened by Arabs, tabouli salad is an indispensable part of the salad.



Cherry tomato and mint salad, this is my second choice.



The second time our family of three came to eat, I chose a 250g smoked roast beef. The set meal came with a naan, a rice, a salad, and a plate of hummus sauce. The meat was so tender that Fahim also ate a lot. He especially liked to eat naan bread. I remembered that when we were in Egypt, he ate naan bread every day. The flat bread in Egypt only cost 20 cents a piece.



This shop is very particular, each cake comes with a bag.



This set is just enough for the three of us. If you have a big appetite, you can choose the 500g set, which will come with more side dishes.







His Kunafa dessert is actually the original flavor without added sugar. It tastes not sweet at all. If you want it sweet, just dip it in the syrup in the small dish.

Address: Chef Eyad Star Boulevard KLCC

2. IKEA (Swedish restaurant)



The IKEA restaurant in Kuala Lumpur has halal certification. It was also my first time to dine at IKEA. I used to visit Huiju IKEA in Beijing, but I would only eat ice cream and drinks there.



The IKEA restaurant in Kuala Lumpur is very popular. You have to queue up to get a meal tray during lunch time. It is popular because of its high cost performance. A lunch only costs RM20 and there are unlimited drinks.



I feel that there are many more people coming to eat than buying furniture, and it is difficult to find a seat during peak dining hours.



People say IKEA's restaurants are also outsourced, with no rent, but IKEA has a profit-sharing agreement with the restaurant.



The variety of dishes is particularly rich. to Swedish meatballs, there are also some localized Malay dishes and desserts.



The process is the same as eating in the school cafeteria. Take a plate and tell the waiter what you want to eat and how much you want. He will help you prepare your meal, then go to the cashier to pay. If you want to drink, you can get a drink cup, and if you want to drink coffee, you can get a coffee cup.



I definitely still prefer this healthy light meal. Salmon and pasta are also children’s favorites.



People say this meatball is the most popular. The waiter will ask you how many you want to eat, tell the number, and then he will serve you with broccoli and mashed potatoes.



Another popular item is the grilled chicken wings. The chicken wings are huge and taste good. They were very comfortable to eat at IKEA and the two of them spent only RM40.

Address: IKEA Cheras (IKEA)

3. THE CHICKEN RICE SHOP (Hainan Chicken Rice)



This store is located on the second floor of AK Shopping Mall. I have eaten from their takeout before. Because there are so many people there at noon, I have to queue up, so I can order takeout faster.



With halal certification, this is more common in chain fast food restaurants and requires the restaurant to have a certain level of strength.



The Hainanese Chicken Rice Set, which comes with a portion of sour chili, a portion of chicken soup, and a portion of fried bean sprouts, is also around RM20.



Their taste is more suitable for Chinese people, especially southerners.



Address: The Chicken Rice Shop Avenue K

4. SHAWARMA CITY



This is another grilled daddy shop with the Twin Towers on its back. You can see the Twin Towers in the background of the sign. Because there are so many shawarma shops like this in Malaysia, I didn’t pay attention. I passed by several times without going in. A few days ago, Fahim had been eating Pizza Hut pasta for a week. I was really tired of it, so I wanted to give him a change of taste. It happened that this shop was very close to my home, so I came here.



Because there are many non-spicy rice dishes for children in Middle Eastern restaurants, and I like them very much myself, so when I don’t know what to eat, this is a good choice.



You can choose from all the dishes on the menu of this store. I picked a chicken one. The most popular one in Malaysia is chicken, because Indians here or some Chinese who believe in local religions do not eat beef.





For their chicken rice, there was so much chicken that it covered the rice, and the grilled chicken was so delicious that Fahim finished the whole plate of chicken. And when asked the next day if he wanted to eat pasta or hand-picked rice, he switched to hand-picked rice.

Address: Shawarma City KLCC

5. SPREZZATURA KAFE



This kind of quiet cafe with few people is my favorite place to go in Kuala Lumpur. The simple sandwiches provided are also my favorite light meals. This shop is a simple coffee shop next to the clinic I discovered when I took Fahim to get a flu shot.



Because it was noon time, all the nearby Malay food stalls were crowded with people. Only this shop looked deserted, so I came in.



This kind of healthy light breakfast that I like is not very recognized by the locals, but in Canada and the United Kingdom, the most popular breakfast restaurants in the morning have this kind of light breakfast, and you have to queue up.



This store actually has a good reputation on Google, but the parking fee here is too expensive, charging RM4 for half an hour, and the parking fee in this place has to be paid at the self-service machine in the lobby with a card, which is very troublesome.





Fortunately, the coffee and sandwiches taste very good. This set meal costs only RM30, which is already very expensive for office workers.

Address: Sprezzatura Coffee Phileo Buna Market (Sprezzatura Cafe)

6. SUPAMALA (Sichuan hot pot)



I've been missing Beijing's shabu-shabu recently, and I haven't found any particularly delicious hot pot restaurants in Kuala Lumpur, so I did a search and found this restaurant, which should be classified as Sichuan-style hot pot.



The environment of the restaurant is quite exquisite. It opened not long ago and the service of the staff is also very attentive.





This dipping station has more Nanyang characteristics, with various seafood sauces and Southeast Asian specialties, but no sesame sauce.



When we first arrived, we were at the first table. It didn’t take long for the store to be filled with people, all of them office workers who came to eat at noon. This store has buffets at different prices, as well as a la carte, and we chose a la carte.



I remember the buffet starts at more than 50 ringgit per person, and there are several more expensive ones.





You can choose from four kinds of soup bases. The dipping sauces and soup bases in this store are very good, but the presentation of the ingredients is really not flattering, because the price of this store is mid-to-high-end in Kuala Lumpur, with per capita consumption of more than 150 ringgit, but this product is definitely not available in Beijing.



Moreover, the portion of the dish was really too small. The two of us added many more dishes, and we ate a total of more than 300 ringgit before we were barely full, with nothing left.







To be honest, the seafood and squid here are very fresh, and the meatballs taste better than those at home, but the beef and mutton are just not that good.







This brown sugar glutinous rice cake is not very authentic either. It is flat in appearance and tasteless.



So I say that domestic hot pot rolls are still very good. This kind of restaurant will definitely not survive for three months in Beijing, but the business is very good in Malaysia. Domestic hot pot restaurant owners may consider coming to Kuala Lumpur to make a roll.



Address: 50, Jalan Raja Abdullah, Chow Kit, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

7. Bake With Yen Chow Kit



This is a halal supermarket that specializes in baking supplies and ingredients. Baking is very popular in Kuala Lumpur, and most of them are halal shops, so this kind of raw material supermarket exists.



Moreover, the raw materials in this store are sold very cheaply, including all kinds of seasonings and flour.



Baking molds, colorings, almond flour, etc. are all available. The entire site is halal, so you can buy with confidence.



There are also many Chinese clerks, which makes communication easy.





Address: Bake with Yen Chow Kit

8. MONSTER SUSHI



When I'm walking my baby shopping, and I don't know what to eat, I'll go to a Japanese restaurant.



This is a very cute conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Most Japanese food restaurants in Kuala Lumpur are relatively affordable. The per capita consumption of this small restaurant is only RM50.





Conveyor belt sushi is suitable for children. You can eat whichever one looks pretty. After you finish the meal, you will pay according to the color of the plate. You can also order a la carte.



This set meal is neither salty nor spicy and is suitable for all ages.



The fried rice is also very tasty.



I really can’t resist the temptation of freshly squeezed juice in Kuala Lumpur, a bottle of which costs less than ten ringgit.

Address: Sushi Monster Setapak Central

9. GRUMPY BAGELS



This is a new Internet celebrity roasting and coffee shop in Kuala Lumpur. The owner is a retired flight attendant and is quite popular on Xiaohongshu.



The location is relatively secluded. It is located in a bungalow in an alley. The surrounding area is not busy, but the store's business is very good.



We arrived early in the morning, there were not many vacancies, and the parking space at the door was also tight.



I didn’t see the proprietress that day. People say the proprietress likes to post videos of herself baking on Xiaohongshu, which has attracted many fans.



We packed several kinds of bagels. They tasted good to eat on the road, but their products were a little more expensive, with a bagel costing ten ringgits.



The decoration of the store is relatively simple and simple, and it looks very comfortable. However, compared to cafes in China, the environment is not as outstanding. It can only be said that competition among Chinese catering companies is fierce.







The styles of cakes look very ordinary, but the business of this shop is really good, and the proprietress is very attentive in running it.



That's the boss lady in the photo. Their way of living and working is very enviable.

Address: Grumpy Bagels

10. Nando's (roast chicken)



This grilled chicken restaurant was the restaurant where we ate on our first date in Malaysia. It was 10 years ago. At that time, we only focused on people-watching and had no impression of the taste of the food. Now that we live in Kuala Lumpur, we occasionally order takeaway from their restaurant because my son also likes the meat and vegetable combination of this chicken rice.



You can choose any flavor, make sure it is not spicy, and you can also match the side dishes inside. This store is a large chain and can be found in many shopping malls.



Fahim likes to eat green beans and chicken, but he doesn’t like to eat vegetables, so we can only try our best to provide him with nutritious meals. Fortunately, he lives near KLCC, so there are more restaurants to choose from.



Address: Nando's
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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing halal food map issue 55 looks at the difficult restaurant market and then covers Haiyiwan huimian, halal meat pies, Xinjiang Bearded Man Restaurant, Ximen Dafei spicy barbecue, Nawab Indian and Pakistani halal food, Eli falafel, Brother Ba potstickers, roast duck, halal dumplings, and Changying roujiamo.

The restaurant industry across the country is struggling this year. Even though many new shops are opening, even more are closing. In this environment, shops that can stay open and make a profit are truly relying on their own strength. The restaurant business is far from as simple as it looks. Many people with no experience jump in, thinking they can make money just by opening a barbecue and hot pot (shaokao shuan) place. I think that is a risky move. With barbecue and hot pot places popping up everywhere, customer traffic is spread thin. The competition makes it hard for both new and old shops to make money, and in the end, everyone loses. I advise those still thinking about entering the restaurant business to think twice.

I have added an AI smart reply feature to my official account. You can ask the AI directly about any restaurant information. It is still in the testing phase, so the answers might not be accurate. It is best to describe your questions clearly and accurately when you ask, and double-check the answers after you receive them. If you are not happy with the reply, please do not get angry; that is 'AI Yahya,' not the real Yahya.

The halal restaurants featured in this issue are as follows:

1. Haiyiwan Braised Noodles (huimian)

2. Halal Meat Pie Shop (roubing dian)

3. Xinjiang Bearded Man Restaurant (Dahuzi Canting) · Ximen Dafei Lanzhou Spicy Barbecue (lazi kaorou)

4. Nawab Indian & Pakistani Halal Food

5. Eli falafel Lebanese Cuisine

6. Brother Ba Pot Stickers (guotie)

7. Dashan Snacks (xiaochi)

8. Master Ma Roast Duck (shaoya)

9. Yihexian Halal Dumplings (shuijiao)

10. Changying halal meat burger (roujiamo).

1. Hai Yi Wan Noodle Shop.



Beijing now has several halal braised noodle (huimian) shops, and they are mostly quite authentic, including this Hai Yi Wan.



They also serve braised beef noodles, and you can get free noodle refills.



The cashier counter uses a large abacus.



A major feature of Henan braised noodle shops is the wide variety of cold dishes.



The sweet and sour cucumber strips and shredded kelp are both refreshing and fresh.



The milky lamb soup braised noodles have chewy noodles. I ordered an extra portion of lamb and an extra portion of greens. They blanched the greens and served them on a separate plate. Their braised noodles do not have many toppings—no daylily buds or quail eggs—it is quite simple, but the taste is very fragrant.

2. Halal Meat Pie Shop (roubing dian)



This is a hidden little shop in Jingezhuang Village, Tongzhou. Don't let the small storefront fool you; it is surprisingly spacious inside.



People say this shop was open in Guang'anmen for 10 years before moving back to their hometown in Tongzhou. They have a shop in the front and a processing area in the back, selling raw beef and lamb in the front and cooking meals inside.



On weekend afternoons, the room is packed with regular customers who drove from far away. The space inside is quite large and includes private rooms.



I did not have high expectations at first, wondering how good this meat pie could really be. But my classmate insisted I come, as he has already been here three times.



The prices here are very cheap, probably because they own the courtyard and do not have to pay rent.



The raw vegetables with dipping sauce (zhanjiangcai) look like they were grown and sold by local farmers, and the portions are big and affordable.



Their clay pot stew (shaguo) is truly delicious. We ordered two, one with beef tripe and one with lamb. Both were great; the meat was high quality, the tripe was cleaned well, and there was no strange smell.



The meat pie also tastes good. It has plenty of filling and a crispy crust, which is just how I like it. Overall, there is a reason this place is still popular these days, and it is worth the long trip.

3. Ximen Dafei Spicy Barbecue · Xinjiang Bearded Man Restaurant



Ximen Dafei Barbecue used to be a Lanzhou barbecue stall in Mentougou, but it recently merged with the Xinjiang Bearded Man restaurant.



It is a Xinjiang restaurant that mixes in Lanzhou-style open-flame skewers, and it works quite well.



They only have a few types of skewers, but I came here for their baked flatbread (kaobing).



The chili (lazi) here still has a bit of a kick.



I think the small beef kidney is better than the lamb skewers because the beef kidney is more tender.



The flatbread (kaobing) doesn't taste as good as the one at the Lanzhou barbecue place in Changying, so you don't need to make a special trip here.



4. Nawab Indian & Pakistani Halal Food



A new Indian-Pakistani restaurant just opened in the Asian Games Village area. It is not crowded yet, but the food is very good.



The space is not very big, but it is clean and tidy. Indian-Pakistani restaurants in Beijing are actually quite refined, unlike in Malaysia where most are just street food stalls.







The service speed is decent because the food is made to order, unlike some places that prepare it in advance.



This long-grain rice is very fragrant and each grain is distinct. You can mix it with the beef curry to eat.





The rice pudding (mibuding) dessert has a light, sweet flavor.



Butter baked flatbread (naan) is still my favorite. They bake it well here, with an even thickness and just the right amount of heat. I am very satisfied with this place and will come back again.

5. Eli falafel Lebanese Cuisine



This Lebanese restaurant is a chain from Shanghai that just opened its first branch in Beijing. I have been to the one in Shanghai, but I think the Beijing location tastes better and the environment is more upscale.



The menu has a halal sign and offers a wide variety of dishes.



This shop is on the first floor of the Guanshe building. The underground parking lot has plenty of spaces, but there are no parking discounts.



The restaurant has an open kitchen, and almost all the diners are foreigners.



The manager gave us a complimentary serving of baklava (bakelawa) dessert.



The Kabul lamb pilaf (kabu yangrou zhuafan) tastes great. The lamb is very tender, and it includes pomegranate seeds. This portion costs 118 yuan.





The dessert counter sells ice cream and gift boxes of sweets.



6. Brother Ba Pot Stickers (guotie)



A new potsticker (guotie) shop opened near White Pagoda Mosque (Baitasi). It is called Brother Ba's because the owner is Old Master Ba from Jinshifang Street.



There are many creative gift shops and cafes around this street, making it perfect for a city walk.



Their menu is small, but the grilled skewers and potstickers are both very authentic.



The skewers are quite large. The shop is small with only a few tables, but it gets very busy at lunchtime.



Beijing potstickers are open at both ends, which is different from Nanjing potstickers. Beijing potstickers are pan-fried and then steamed, while Nanjing potstickers are more like deep-fried dumplings.

7. Dashan Snacks (xiaochi)



There is a breakfast shop on South Street in Tongzhou that has been open for many years. They only sell breakfast and are open from 6:00 to 10:00 in the morning.



Their signature items are fried dough (youbing) and tofu pudding (doufunao), but unfortunately, the tofu pudding was already sold out when I arrived.



The shop is very small with only two rows of single seats facing the wall, yet people keep coming in for breakfast.



This beef meatball soup is also delicious; you cannot find meatball soup for breakfast over at Niujie.



Their fried dough is truly tasty, crispy and refreshing, but I did not dare eat too much to keep my figure.

8. Master Ma Roast Duck (shaoya)



A takeout-only roast duck shop near the Dewai Fayuan Mosque.



They sell roast duck (shaoya), Peking duck (kaoya), and some duck parts.



The group-buying voucher is even cheaper than the prices on this menu.



I tested the roast duck myself and it is delicious, fresh, tender, and juicy, especially when paired with the shop's sour plum sauce.



9. Yihexian Dumplings



A newly opened dumpling shop on the first floor of Hema in Guanzhuang; it is a quite refined and clean little place.



Their dumplings are wrapped to order and come in many flavors. I ordered a portion of mackerel dumplings, and they also have lamb and pear dumplings.



I ordered a small portion just to try it out. The set meal comes with a free plate of pickled garlic (laba suan). The mackerel filling tastes great, just as good as what I had in Qingdao. I recommend it.



10. Changying halal meat burger (roujiamo).



There is a meat burger (roujiamo) stall at the supermarket entrance of the Changying Ethnic Home. The quality of their meat burgers is very high.



They sell savory crepes (jianbing), cold starch noodles (liangpi), and various meat burgers. The owner says they make their own buns and use high-quality chilled meat.



You can choose between fatty or lean meat. I prefer lean meat. They add green peppers and cilantro to cut the grease. They give you a lot of meat, so you cannot even take a full bite at once. It is truly delicious.



The bun is toasted, and the crust is crispy, which I really like. A beef burger with green pepper and cilantro costs 16 yuan. A group-buy set with a bottle of soda is only 17 yuan. It is the perfect amount for a meal.
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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing halal food map issue 54 focuses on barbecue and snack spots, including Subuha electric-grilled skewers, Ali Northwest barbecue roujiamo, Ganmaya Yunnan Zhaotong barbecue, Shunhexiang Harbin halal food, Xi'an Old Lan Family barbecue, Japanese-style barbecue, Northeast halal cuisine, fried chicken, and Hotan barbecue.

I added an AI smart reply feature to my official account. You can ask the AI directly about any restaurant information. It is still in the testing phase, so the answers might not be perfectly accurate. It is best to describe your questions clearly and accurately when you ask, and double-check the information after you get a reply. If you are not happy with the answer, please do not be mean. That is AI Yahya, not the real Yahya.

The halal restaurants featured in this issue are as follows:

1. Subuha Electric Grilled Skewers (Subuha Dian Kaochuan)

2. Ali Northwest Barbecue Meat Burger (Ali Xibei Shaokao Roujiamo)

3. Ganmaya Yunnan Zhaotong Barbecue (Ganmaya Yunnan Zhaotong Shaokao)

4. Shunhexiang Harbin Halal Small Restaurant (Shunhexiang Haerbin Qingzhen Xiaoguan)

5. Xi'an Old Lan Family Barbecue (Xi'an Lao Lanjia Shaokao)

6. Sun Moon Stars Japanese-style Barbecue (Riyue Xingchen Rishi Shaorou)

7. Zhenming Yihua Zhai Restaurant (Zhenming Yihua Zhai Fandian)

8. Ma's Northeast Halal Cuisine (Maji Dongbei Qingzhen Meishi)

9. Little Yu Barbecue and Fried Chicken (Xiaoyu Shaokao Zhaji)

10. Hotan Barbecue (Hetian Shaokao)

1. Subuha electric-grilled lamb skewers.



This is a halal snack shop run by Hui Muslims in Beijing. Their signature items are almond tofu (xingren doufu) and electric-grilled skewers. Their almond tofu uses high-quality ingredients and has a top-tier texture. It is the best almond tofu I have ever had in Beijing.



I usually order the signature snacks when I visit a shop. The almond tofu is a must. I enjoyed it so much that I ordered a coffee cheese (kafei nailao) afterward.



It costs 10 yuan per serving and comes with a small bag of sugar water. The sweetness is just right—a light, refreshing taste that is neither sticky nor cloying.



The coffee cheese is just as smooth and creamy. The shop also sells mini bottles of zero-sugar lemon tea. The owner cares about health, so many products have no added sugar, but they still taste great and go well with the skewers.



I tried both the beef skewers and the lamb tendon skewers. I think the lamb tendon is more tender and tastes better than the beef.





They have two locations now, one in Qinghe and one in Jiaodaokou. I visited both, but I prefer the Jiaodaokou shop. The skewers at the Qinghe shop were a bit salty, while the seasoning at Jiaodaokou was perfect. The almond tofu tastes the same at both places.



The Qinghe shop has free parking spaces, making it easy to park. The Jiaodaokou shop only has a few parking spots on the side of the road, which makes parking difficult.

2. Ali Northwest Barbecue Meat Burger (Ali Xibei Shaokao Roujiamo)



This is a Gansu-style barbecue stall near Minzu University. Their specialty is grilled flatbread (kaobing) stuffed with everything.



Students nearby often order delivery from here. I have eaten here twice and ordered the set meal both times. For 20 yuan, you get a set with grilled steamed bun (kaomo), beef skewers, an egg, green beans, and oil-wheat lettuce (youmaicai). It makes for a very tasty and satisfying meal.



3. Ganmaya Yunnan Zhaotong Barbecue (Ganmaya Yunnan Zhaotong Shaokao)



A new Yunnan-style barbecue restaurant just opened in Beijing. Gamaya is a well-known brand from Zhaotong.



We visited on the first day of their soft opening and tried the Yunnan-style hot pot chicken and barbecue.



Small-skewer barbecue (xiao shaokao) is a Zhaotong specialty that is very popular in Yunnan, and it has a spicy kick.





Their standout dish is the fresh beef broth rice noodles (mi xian). You can really taste the freshness of the beef soup, and the bowl is authentically Yunnan.



4. Shunhexiang Harbin Halal Small Restaurant (Shunhexiang Haerbin Qingzhen Xiaoguan)



A new Harbin halal eatery called Shunhexiang just opened in Tongzhou. It is a chain brand in Harbin and this is their first shop in Beijing.



The stir-fried dishes at Shunhexiang are excellent. This place is currently the best restaurant in Beijing for halal Northeast-style stir-fry.







I chose the stir-fried chili with dried tofu (jianjiao gandoufu), a classic Northeast home-style dish that tastes great.



The Majiagou celery with sea urchin is also delicious. It is cold, refreshing, and has a sweet and sour flavor.



The beef steamed dumplings (shaomai) are made well, but for shaomai, I personally prefer the Inner Mongolian style from Lianying.



Their sweet and sour pork (guobaorou) is a solid choice, and it tastes just as it should.



Stir-fried potato, eggplant, and pepper (disanxian) is a classic home-style dish in Northeast China. Everything together cost only 200 yuan, and the portions were just right for two people.

5. Xi'an Old Lan Family Barbecue (Xi'an Lao Lanjia Shaokao)



The newly opened Xi'an Lao Lan Jia BBQ restaurant in Tongzhou Cool Car Town serves both barbecue and Xi'an-style noodles.



Lao Lan Jia has been open for over twenty years with a location in Xi'an as well.



I have been here twice and tried all their signature dishes. The barbecue tastes exactly like what you get in Xi'an.



Xi'an barbecue is known for these small iron skewers, served in bundles of 10. The flavor is a bit on the salty side.



Their eight-treasure porridge (babaozhou) is quite good. It has a mild flavor and is not too sweet.



The stir-fried beef with peppers (xiaochao huangniurou) uses beef coated in starch. I personally prefer the stir-fry texture found in Hunan cuisine.



As one of Xi'an's signature dishes, the stir-fried crumbled flatbread (xiaochao paomo) tastes great.



Braised dough bits (hui mashi) is a specialty noodle dish from Northwest China. Mashi are small dough dumplings, and the soup base is delicious.



This dish is called night market stir-fried bean sprouts. It is refreshing, tasty, and has that distinct smoky flavor from the wok.



Shaanxi-style hot oil noodles (youpo mian) use wide noodles. They must be served plain to be truly good, and the drizzled chili oil is fragrant without being too spicy.



Stir-fried beef with crispy rice crust (guoba). The millet rice crust is crunchy, and I highly recommend this dish.



Hot and sour beef tripe (suanla shuan niudu). It was a bit too salty, and I prefer lighter flavors these days.



Guokui flatbread with spicy sauce. Eating one of these when you are hungry really hits the spot. The crust is baked until crispy, and it pairs perfectly with the spicy chili sauce and peppers. It is delicious.

6. Sun Moon Stars Japanese-style Barbecue (Riyue Xingchen Rishi Shaorou)



A new halal Japanese restaurant has opened on the basement level of the Sun and Moon Stars Hotel (Riyue Xingchen Jiudian) in Huangcun, Daxing.



This restaurant is part of the hotel, so you get free parking when you come to eat. They have a very complete selection of Japanese food, including all kinds of grilled meats, sashimi, and sushi. They have pretty much every Japanese dish you can name.



The prices are also cheaper than other Japanese restaurants, costing about 100 yuan per person.



A single-person Japanese ramen set costs only 63 yuan and includes a salad, sushi, fruit, ramen, side dishes, and yogurt. The taste and ingredients are both good, making it a great value.













7. Zhenming Yihua Zhai Restaurant (Zhenming Yihua Zhai Fandian)



There is a halal breakfast shop near Huangcun in Daxing that also serves full meals. Their specialty is selling sesame flatbread (shaobing) with any filling you want.



Something unique they sell is sesame flatbread (shaobing) stuffed with shredded pork in garlic sauce (yuxiang rousi).





This freshly baked sesame flatbread (shaobing) tastes great with anything inside. A big one filled with shredded pork in garlic sauce (yuxiang rousi) costs only 4.5 yuan. Add a bowl of tofu pudding (doufunao) for 4 yuan, and the total for breakfast is 8.5 yuan.



8. Ma's Northeast Halal Cuisine (Maji Dongbei Qingzhen Meishi)



A halal Northeast Chinese restaurant that has been open for many years near the Tongzhou Grand Mosque.



The braised meat strips (ba routiao) do not look very appetizing, and the taste is just so-so.



Stir-fried lamb liver with chives. The lamb liver has a bit of a gamey smell, and their dishes are generally too salty.



The lamb soup is not salty, but it is too thin and watery.



The steamed dumplings (shaomai) are also very average. You can stop by for a quick meal if you are passing by, but it is not worth a special trip. The average cost is about 60 yuan per person.



9. Little Yu Barbecue and Fried Chicken (Xiaoyu Shaokao Zhaji)



A very small fried skewer shop in Shilihe. They sell various fried skewers, fried chicken, and barbecue. It is mainly for takeout, though you can eat inside, but there are only two tables.





They sell grilled cold noodles (kao lengmian) and grilled gluten (kao mianjin), and they have a good variety of fried skewers.



The prices are cheap enough. This handful of four types of skewers cost 15 yuan in total.



10. Hotan Barbecue (Hetian Shaokao)



A few hundred meters from Xiaoyu Fried Skewers (Xiaoyu Zhachuan) is a newly opened Hotan barbecue shop. The shop is located in a parking lot, so there are plenty of empty parking spaces right in front, which is very convenient.



This is an authentic Xinjiang barbecue shop, and the only other Xinjiang specialty dish they serve is big plate chicken (dapanji).



The shop has a nice, spacious environment, and the servers are Uyghur girls.



The shop sells several types of soda from the Xinjiang brand Abide.



A barbecue set meal costs 48 yuan and includes quite a lot of food, enough for one person.



The meat skewers taste great, but the vegetable skewers are just average; when it comes to barbecue, I still love the meat the most.




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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing halal food map issue 53 covers the author's AI restaurant-search feature plus Jiangjiang Xinjiang Restaurant, Huixiangyun halal Hunan stir-fry, Qianyuan Hotel buffet, Ya'er Liji, Changxile, Old Ma's lamb soup, Shangjingdao barbecue, Qibaozhai, Doulai Shun, Sailimai, and Fresh Milk Town.

I have added an AI chatbot to my official account. You can ask the AI directly for restaurant information. It is still in the testing phase, so the answers might not be perfect. Please describe your questions clearly and double-check the information after you get a reply. If you are not happy with the answers, please do not be rude. That is AI Yahya, not the real Yahya.

Here is the list of halal restaurants featured in this post:

1. Jiangjiang

2. Huixiangyun Sichuan and Hunan Stir-fry

3. Qianyuan Hotel Buffet Restaurant

4. Yaer Liji Halal Restaurant

5. Changxile Restaurant

6. Old Ma's Lamb Soup and Beef Steamed Dumplings (zhengjiao)

7. Shangjingdao Halal Northeast Barbecue Fusion Cuisine

8. Maji Qibaozhai

9. Doulai Shun

10. Salima

11. Fresh Milk Town

1. Jiangjiang Xinjiang Restaurant



This new Xinjiang hand-pulled noodle (banmian) shop in Sanlitun SOHO has Uyghur brothers working in the kitchen. The owner used to run Anboer Beef Noodles, and this shop also keeps the halal, alcohol-free policy of Anboer.



Besides regular dining chairs, the shop has two Uyghur-style heated platform tables (kangzhuo). We took off our shoes and sat on the platform to eat.



This Xinjiang restaurant does not sell alcohol, but they have plenty of honey-based malt drink (kawasi).



A big highlight here is that they use fresh, just-slaughtered meat for their barbecue.



The beef we ate was slaughtered in the morning and served on our table that afternoon.



The peppercorn chicken (jiaomaji), big plate chicken (dapanji), and steak are all made in the traditional Xinjiang way, and the taste is excellent.



They have lowered the spice and salt levels, making the flavors lighter and suitable for bringing children.



Another highlight is the clay oven (nangkeng) built inside the shop for baking flatbread (nang), so you can eat it fresh and hot.



2. Huixiangyun Halal Hunan Stir-fry



Two halal Hunan-style stir-fry restaurants opened at the same time in Zuojiazhuang and Wangjing Korean Town. The Wangjing location specializes in home-style stir-fries, while the Zuojiazhuang shop is larger with a wider variety of dishes and private dining rooms.



Menu prices are shown in the image, and there is a 12% discount on everything during the soft opening period.





I ate at both locations. The taste of the same dishes is identical, and everything is stir-fried fresh on the spot with no pre-made food.



The duck head from the braised duck snacks is truly super spicy; I think people from Hunan would definitely approve of this heat level. The duck neck is not spicy and is perfect as a snack while watching shows. These braised items are available for takeout at the window.



Hunan-style spicy beef tripe (maodujian)





Stir-fried yellow beef (xiaochao huangniurou)



Hunan-style stir-fried free-range chicken (hunan chao tuji)





Western Hunan bandit-style duck (xiangxi tufei ya)



Dry-pot spicy duck head (ganguo la yatou)



Creamy tofu (baojiang doufu)



Hunan-style beef tripe, tendon, and brisket (xiangwei niusanxian)



Beef tenderloin with hanging peppers (hangjiao niuliu)



Hunan-style grilled fish served two ways.



This is a small shop in Wangjing. It used to be called Mr. Mu Halal Stir-fry, but after a renovation, it was renamed Huixiangyun. The Zuojiazhuang branch is next to the Jinjiang Inn, and you can park for free at the entrance.

3. Qianyuan Hotel Buffet Restaurant



The buffet restaurant on the third floor of the Qianyuan Hotel is halal. There is no sign, but the hotel owner is a Dongxiang person.



The dinner buffet is 158 yuan per person, and you can sometimes get it cheaper with a group-buying deal.



The restaurant serves fusion food, including southern dishes, Western-style steak, Beijing roast duck, and roasted lamb leg from the Northwest.



Each guest gets one serving of Australian steak, and you can choose how you want it cooked. The quality of this steak is very high.













The roasted lamb leg is delicious. The meat is fresh and has no gamey smell. I ate two plates.



The oysters are also very large.





There is a chocolate fountain for dipping fruit. This hotel has been open for over ten years and is a four-star property. Considering the location, the price is not expensive.

4. Ya'er Liji Halal Cuisine



The Ya'er Liji on Niujie Street serves hot pot (shuanrou) upstairs and stir-fried dishes downstairs.



The restaurant is very large. It was packed for the first few days after opening, but now the crowds have died down.







Stir-fried dishes are on the basement level. The signature items are braised oxtail (hongshao niuwei) and stir-fried tripe with cilantro (yanbao sandan). The taste doesn't compare to Hongbinlou, but the price is only half of what you pay there.







For a staple, try the sugar pancake (tangbing). They are generous with the filling, and it is very sweet.



Overall, their stir-fried dishes lean toward the sweet side and the flavor is just average. The advantage is the low price, with an average cost per person under 100 yuan.



They also started making yogurt like Ziguangyuan. Halal dining on Niujie Street is becoming very similar across different shops, and the flavors are quite limited.

5. Changxile Restaurant



This is a newly opened Harbin-style small eatery specializing in wontons and noodles.





The small bowl of beef is stewed well.



The shop is clean, and the owner looks very neat and professional.





The food tastes like home cooking, and the prices are cheap.



6. Old Ma's Lamb Soup and Beef Steamed Dumplings (zhengjiao)



This is a Shandong-style lamb bone broth (yangtang) shop, and the broth is milky white.







They have many kinds of steamed dumplings (zhengjiao). The lamb bone broth comes plain, so you add your own salt and seasonings.





The shop promises that this milky white broth is boiled naturally with no additives.



Small cold side dishes are self-service.



7. Shangjingdao Halal Northeast Barbecue



This is a newly opened Harbin-style barbecue shop that serves sweet and sour pork (guobaorou).







I tried a few of their signature Northeast dishes, and they tasted great. The grilled skewers were also very flavorful.







Salty-style sweet and sour pork (guobaorou)



Spicy stir-fried squid tentacles





Chicken stewed with mushrooms (xiaoji dun mogu)

8. Maji Qibaozhai



A new halal deli opened in Jiugong, and they also sell halal pastries and staple foods.



Their spiced beef (jiang niurou) is quite tasty and affordable. If you eat in now, they give you free steamed buns (mantou). Their buns are made with Wudeli flour and are very dense.



Maji Qibaozhai is a chain store, but I have only been to this location in Jiugong.



9. Doulai Shun Changzhuang Branch



A huge halal restaurant located right next to the Changzhuang mosque, serving stir-fried dishes and hot pot.



The restaurant has several floors and a very large space, making it suitable for banquets. Their stir-fried dishes are also quite standard.



Their mapo tofu is delicious. Doulai Shun serves fusion cuisine, so they have a bit of everything.







The clear-stewed lamb (qingdun yangrou) is well-made, and the quality of the lamb is good.









10. Sailimai Northwest Food Museum



This place is quite refined with a fresh decor style and a huge variety of items on the menu.



I originally wanted to try their steamed buns (baozi), but the menu was so overwhelming that I ended up ordering a bowl of fermented vegetable noodles (jiangshuimian).





Fermented vegetable noodles (jiangshuimian) are a common home-style dish from Northwest China. The broth is fermented, giving it a sour taste, and the dish is vegetarian.



I tried their potato-filled steamed buns (baozi), which are stuffed with shredded potatoes.



The manager gave me some bitter water rose yogurt (kushui meigui suannai); roses are a major specialty of Lanzhou. Even at eight in the evening, the restaurant was packed with a steady stream of customers. Their success comes from the care they put into their service.

11. Fresh Milk Town



This is a new bakery opened by the Tanyang shop brand. As soon as you walk in, you see a station for fresh milk.



You grab a bottle from the disinfection cabinet yourself, or you can bring your own container. After filling it with milk, you just pay at the counter. I drank a bottle of the fresh milk, and it had a rich, creamy flavor.



Their milk, bread, and pizza are all made fresh daily and never kept overnight. This kind of breakfast with fresh milk, coffee, and bread is my favorite; it feels quite healthy.



There are dozens of types of baked goods, and each one is quite large.



The menu prices are not expensive, with an average cost per person under 100 yuan.



The shop has a huge kiln used for baking pizzas.



The kitchen is open and clean, and the service is excellent. A young lady even helped me carry my tray and pack up my leftovers.











We ate two freshly baked pizzas at the shop, and they tasted great.



One was filled with sesame leaf and beef, and the other was filled with Monthong durian (jin zhen liu lian); both were delicious.



The shop is very busy, so you have to wait in line on weekends. You can also come here for afternoon tea. There is a parking lot at the entrance, and parking is free.


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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Muslim knowledge guide excerpts Mahmoud A. El-Gamal's work on Islamic finance, explaining the economic substance of riba and interest, gharar, Sharia arbitrage, rent-seeking, and why form-based finance can miss the deeper goals of Islamic law.

This article is an excerpt from the third chapter of Professor El-Gamal's book, Islamic Finance: Law, Economics, and Practice. The author, Mahmoud A. El-Gamal, is a professor of economics and statistics at Rice University, where he serves as the Chair in Islamic Economics, Finance, and Management. Before joining Rice University in 1998, he was an associate professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an assistant professor of economics at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester. He also worked in the Middle Eastern Department of the International Monetary Fund from 1995 to 1996 and became the first Scholar-in-Residence on Islamic Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2004. He has published extensively in the fields of econometrics, finance, experimental economics, and Islamic law and finance.

Professor El-Gamal's economic expertise helps us clarify the dilemmas facing interest-free finance today and provides solutions for how to move forward. Professor El-Gamal's book offers unique insights. His understanding of riba (usury) and gharar (uncertainty) differs from traditional academic views. He has boldly pointed out that the essence of modern Islamic finance is rent-seeking sharia arbitrage. Rent-seeking refers to non-productive profit-seeking activities where one monopolizes social resources or maintains a monopoly position to gain monopoly profits, known as economic rent, without engaging in production. This behavior, similar to corruption and bribery, is even more alarming than so-called interest.


Islamic finance is an industry driven by prohibitions. In this regard, the invalidity of contracts that lead to these prohibitions can almost always be attributed to two factors: riba and gharar. As we showed in the first chapter, mainstream contemporary legal and economic analysts believe that such regulations, which prohibit financial transactions voluntarily entered into by both parties, are paternalistic and lead to efficiency losses. Islamic finance always prefers formal correctness, a characteristic that does almost nothing to refute such sharia prohibitions.

Participants in the industry, especially those who are not believers themselves, respect Muslim religious precepts in their operations and design financial solutions to circumvent various prohibitions based on the opinions of jurists. This attitude encourages Islamic finance to focus more on form than substance. Lawyers and bankers hesitate to question the solutions provided by jurists, viewing them only as inefficient hurdles to transactions they believe are otherwise forbidden. To properly understand today's Islamic finance practices, this chapter covers the economic substance that we believe these prohibitions aim to achieve. In later chapters, we will compare the economic substance of these prohibitions with pre-modern contract conditions in more detail, contrasting the form-oriented approach of contemporary Islamic finance with the substance-oriented approach of classical jurisprudence.

Bounded rationality and paternalism

For alcohol and gambling, the classic solution is to avoid them entirely, as these activities are not necessities. In contrast, credit and risk transfer are at the heart of finance. Without them, the economic system cannot function properly. In this case, the solution under Sharia is to restrict how credit and risk are transferred by prohibiting interest (riba) and uncertainty (gharar). In this chapter, I will argue that in the financial sector, the prohibited interest is essentially credit trading, and the prohibited uncertainty is risk trading. These were meant to be traded as independent commodities.

In other words, Sharia uses these two prohibitions to allow for the transfer of credit and risk to an appropriate degree, helping to achieve economic goals. As many financial market observers and practitioners confirm, credit and risk trading, perfected through derivative securities, are as dangerous as a double-edged sword. Although these tools can be used wisely to reduce risk and improve welfare, they can also easily tempt otherwise cautious people into destructive gambling. While financial regulators try to limit the scope of credit and risk trading to prevent systemic collapse, the purpose of Sharia's prohibitions is also to protect individuals from their own greed and short-sightedness.

What should be prohibited? Balancing benefits and risks

The goal of balancing economic freedom—allowing more contracts to boost economic activity—against the risk of abuse if too much freedom is given, is clear from the fact that some contracts involving interest or uncertainty are permitted in classical and legal literature. Take the example of advance forward sales (salam), which contain a great deal of uncertainty because the item being sold usually does not exist when the contract is signed. However, this uncertainty is considered minor compared to the potential benefits of using salam to provide financing for agriculture and other activities. Therefore, based on this benefit, it overrides the conclusion that a contract is invalid due to uncertainty, a point that can be reached simply through analogical reasoning. Similarly, credit sales can easily be seen as a vehicle for interest. As shown in the previous chapter, in both cases, the benefits of allowing the production of non-existent goods through salam and the consumption of future income through credit sales outweigh the potential dangers of abuse. Thus, despite various negative factors, these contracts are permitted.

The discussion in Chapter Two regarding various legal views on buy-back sales (ina) reflects a legal cost-benefit analysis. Clearly, not all spot sales or credit sales can be prohibited, as that would lead to economic collapse. On one hand, legal experts agree that it is unreasonable to prohibit buy-back sales if the second transaction is stipulated in the first. On the other hand, if the two transactions are executed through separate contracts, some legal experts prohibit this practice to prevent abuse—a means of preventing legal evasion in Maliki jurisprudence—while others, such as Shafi'i, who limits legal reasoning to analogy, consider this practice valid. In Islamic finance, legal experts might be asked to verify each contract separately without needing to explain the entire financial structure it will be used for.

This example is truly essential for understanding our upcoming discussion on contemporary jurisprudence and finance. By definition, almost all new financial transactions and the variations considered by Islamic bank Sharia boards are complex enough to generate multiple legal opinions based on principles like analogy, preventing abuse, and benefit analysis.

Differences in opinion allow Islamic finance providers to practice price discrimination by segmenting the market based on how conservative a believer's faith is, which helps them extract more Islamic finance arbitrage profits from more conservative believers.

The prohibition of interest (riba).

The word "riba" has a three-letter past-tense root from the Arabic verb "raba," which means "to increase." Therefore, jurists usually define the prohibited "riba" as "trading the same type of goods in different quantities, where the added portion is not reasonable compensation." Clearly, the literal meaning of the term, which covers all types of increases, is not what is prohibited. Because of this, many jurists have analyzed the legal meaning of prohibited "riba" for hundreds of years. Although most contemporary jurists deny any uncertainty in the legal definition of prohibited "riba," two research works by Rida (1986) clearly show that the definitions used by pre-modern and contemporary jurists have gone far beyond their original scope.

In this regard, the distinction between legal compensation and prohibited usury is the most fundamental feature of Islamic finance as an industry guided by prohibitions. However, the distinction defined by contemporary jurists is mainly achieved by adopting pre-modern forms rather than by ensuring mechanisms for fair contract pricing. Understanding the religious ban on usury and its modern interpretations is essential for understanding today's Islamic finance industry and any possible alternative Islamic structures. We are now starting an economic analysis of the classic religious texts and traditional legal studies regarding usury. We first look at the classic religious texts.

Classic literature on riba

All scholars agree there are two main types of riba, and scholars from the Shafi'i school have further refined the second type. The first type is called riba al-nasia.

The worst form of this riba is called riba al-jahiliyya (practiced in the Arab region before the founding of Islam). The Quran strictly forbids it, so much so that Imam Malik once called it the strictest prohibition in Islam.

The first mention of riba in the Quran was in Mecca, where it only advised people not to collect riba but did not explicitly forbid it [30:39].

The first verses about riba revealed in Medina only banned the riba practiced in the Arab region before Islam, which meant charging interest on interest-free loans or credit sales when they were due, and then calculating compound interest on later due dates. Therefore, the Quran describes the principal that a debtor should repay as "doubled and multiplied riba" [3:130]. In the final verses of the Quran, the ban on riba was expanded to clearly forbid all forms of riba. In the verses that follow [2:275-9], believers are ordered to give up all remaining interest (likely referring to the form of interest defined in [3:130]).

The main categories of riba in Islamic law.

Most jurists extended the strict pre-Islamic ban on usury found in the Quran to all forms of interest-bearing loans, grouping them under the term riba al-nasia.

They offered three reasons for this ban: (1) people might take advantage of poor debtors who urgently need to borrow money or goods; (2) currency trading might lead to fluctuations in currency value and uncertainty; (3) exchanging food for more food in the future could cause shortages in the spot market (likely because many merchants would hoard food, hoping to sell it at a higher price later! ).

None of these explanations seem very convincing. After all, a loan shark could just as easily exploit a debtor in urgent need of cash by selling them a house worth $100 for a deferred payment of $1,000, without violating the rules of usury envisioned by the jurists. The second explanation also seems weak from an economic perspective. The relative prices of goods can fluctuate due to changes in supply and demand, regardless of whether interest-based credit is available. Finally, the logic regarding food is clearly flawed: traders only prefer deferred transactions when the terms of trade exceed their time preference, and vice versa. In reality, this is how the implicit interest rate is determined in equilibrium based on the time preferences of market participants. if credit transactions for food could cause the problems mentioned by classical jurists, then selling deferred food claims for immediate cash, or selling food for a deferred cash price, would cause the same issues. Yet, jurists consider both of these transactions permissible, even though they implicitly compensate for the time value of money. In fact, jurists from all major schools declare that time has a share in price. They accept the legality of seeking compensation for the value of time in credit and forward sales (salam), including the sale of all goods, such as food.

The second type of riba recognized by jurists is called riba al-fadl (excess riba). It forbids trading goods of the same kind and category in different quantities. This is based on a valid hadith of the Prophet: Gold for gold, silver for silver, copper for copper, grain for grain, dried fruit for dried fruit, and fresh fruit for fresh fruit must be exchanged in equal amounts, and one may not trade more for less. Gold for gold, silver for silver, wheat for wheat, barley for barley, dates for dates, and salt for salt must be exchanged in equal amounts, hand-to-hand. Any increase is riba. Jurists outside the Zahiri school agree that these six goods are only examples. Hanafi jurists extend the prohibition to all fungible goods measured by weight or volume, while Shafi'i and Maliki jurists limit it to monetary goods like gold and silver, and storable food.

When we discuss currency exchange (saraf), we will explore the hadith of the Prophet specifically regarding spot and deferred trades of gold for gold, silver for silver, and gold for silver. These hadith clearly forbid a common method used by Medici bankers to get around the early Catholic Church's ban on interest, which was to include interest rates in exchange rates.

Riba is not interest.

Reports indicate that some famous early companions of the Prophet, including the prominent jurist Abdullah ibn Abbas, believed that riba involving a time factor was absolutely forbidden. Usama ibn Zayd ibn al-Arqam, Ibn Jubayr, and others ruled that the only clearly forbidden riba was the one involving a time factor (riba al-nasi'ah), even citing a hadith of the Prophet to support this view: Riba only exists in deferred payment. Later reports from Jabir show that this hadith referred to trades between different goods, such as gold for silver or wheat for barley, and that Ibn Abbas later changed his view to join the majority opinion that forbids riba al-fadl.

Jurists list two reasons for banning riba al-fadl, which involves time-based factors: (1) Trading different amounts of the same item in a spot transaction easily mixes with credit sales, creating the same effect as riba al-nasi'ah. This is deferred interest (so interest premiums are banned to prevent legal loopholes), and (2) these trades contain excessive uncertainty (avoidable risk and uncertainty), because both sides do not know if the trade will help or harm them. Ibn Rushd based his core analysis on this latter explanation for banning interest, which we will detail below. Including interest premiums in the general category of banned interest is very important for understanding the economic substance of these bans. However, most contemporary jurists and Islamic finance scholars want to avoid discussing this topic, precisely to keep wrongly linking 'interest' and 'usury' one-to-one in their rhetoric. In reality, equating these two terms is highly inappropriate.

First, even the most conservative contemporary jurists do not consider all forms of interest that economists and regulators talk about to be banned interest. Just look at interest-free Islamic finance methods like cost-plus credit sales. Cost-plus financing (murabaha) and leasing (ijara) show that these financing models are not 'interest-free'. In fact, U.S. Truth in Lending regulations require Islamic and traditional financial institutions to report the implied interest rates they charge customers in these financing arrangements. Therefore, Islamic finance's own practices show that certain forms of interest (such as in credit sales and leasing) should not be seen as banned 'interest'. Instead, banning 'interest' (riba) clearly shows that there are banned forms of 'interest' (illegal exchange gains) that do not involve interest. As some Hanafi jurists point out, the Prophet's tradition about the six commodities cited in the previous section sets two conditions: immediate exchange and equal value. So, if you trade one ounce of gold today for one ounce of gold to be delivered next year, it is still considered riba (usury) because it breaks the rule of immediate exchange, even if the interest rate is zero. These Hanafi jurists reason that one ounce of gold today is clearly worth more than one ounce of gold a year from now, which acknowledges the time value of money. Therefore, no one would ever trade one ounce of gold today for one ounce of gold next year unless they were getting some other return that was not disclosed in the sales contract. Whatever that extra benefit might be, they argue it constitutes riba. Our later analysis of the ban on riba—from the perspective of ensuring economic efficiency and fair trade—applies the same general principles to any other interest rate to explain the ban on zero interest: how do we know that zero interest is the fair rate for trading gold today for gold in a year?

The economic essence of the ban on riba

In his pioneering work on comparative jurisprudence, the Maliki jurist, judge, and philosopher Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes, died 595 AH/1198 AD) adopted the Hanafi approach of extending the rules of riba from the tradition of the six commodities to all fungible goods, based on this economic analysis:

It follows that the goal of the riba prohibited by law is to eliminate the excessive injustice it causes. In this regard, fairness in certain transactions is achieved through equality. Since it is difficult to achieve equal exchange between different types of items, we use money to measure their value. Therefore, for goods that cannot be measured by weight or volume, fairness can be ensured through the ratio of their value. The ratio of the quantity exchanged should be decided by the value ratio of the different goods being traded. For example, if someone trades a horse for clothes, and the horse is worth fifty, the clothes should also be worth fifty. If each piece of clothing is worth five, then the horse should be traded for ten pieces of clothing. For interchangeable goods measured by volume or weight, fairness requires equality because they are relatively uniform and have similar utility. Since people who own these goods do not need to trade them for the same type, fairness is achieved through equal volume or weight because their utility is very similar.

Ibn Rushd clarified the conditions for exchange: the ratio of the quantity traded should be decided by the price ratio, which should equal the ratio of marginal utility. This restriction never became part of the rules prohibiting usury because monitoring the market price of all goods is a very tedious task. Therefore, the prohibition of usury only applies to the direct exchange of interchangeable goods. As Ibn Rushd suggested, if there is a significant difference in quality, people avoid directly trading low-quality goods for high-quality goods of the same kind. Many hadith clearly support achieving fairness through equality when trading uniform goods and explain alternatives to avoid direct barter when the quality of goods differs. In this regard, Buraydah and Abu Hurayrah reported that a man working in Khaybar brought the Prophet some high-quality dates. The Prophet asked if all the dates in Khaybar were like this one, and the man replied that they traded two or three portions of lower-quality dates for one portion of higher-quality dates. The Prophet told him angrily not to do this again, but instead to sell the lower-quality dates and use the money to buy the higher-quality ones.

Achieving fairness and efficiency through market-based pricing.

Sell the first type of date at the highest market price and buy the other at the lowest market price to ensure the trade follows the ratio set by market prices. Naturally, traders will only trade at this ratio if they value the marginal units differently. Considering the law of diminishing marginal utility, where a buyer's valuation of each successive unit of a date type drops, trading stops when the ratio of marginal utility equals the ratio of market prices. This achieves (Pareto) efficiency in exchange, as noted by contemporary neoclassical economic theory. The ban on this type of interest (riba al-fadl) acts as a mechanism that encourages people to gather information on market conditions and set trade terms based on market prices. This protects individuals from unfair trades and improves overall exchange efficiency. Keep in mind that any trade ratio deviating from the market price ratio will necessarily disadvantage one party. Both fairness and efficiency require following this method of using market pricing to determine trade ratios. It is not difficult to extend this logic to exchanges over time, such as credit sales, leasing, or other transactions. In the context of credit sales and lease-to-own financing, the ban on interest is essentially aimed at ensuring fairness in the exchange. These transactions require that credit be issued at an appropriate rate. In this regard, conventional finance plays a very important role for contemporary Islamic finance by setting market interest rates for various borrowers based on their credit status and the security of their collateral.

It is quite appropriate here to benchmark the implied interest rates in Islamic credit sales and lease-purchase transactions against conventional interest rates. In practice, for example, if the market interest rate for a specific borrower and specific collateral is 6%, but the rate requested by the customer is lower than 6%, then this interest rate difference is equivalent to implied interest. However, if a customer and a financier agree to a credit sale transaction with an implied interest rate of 10%, some would argue that this clearly violates the spirit of Islamic law prohibiting usury, even if it uses sales-based methods to bypass ancient forms of prohibition. In this regard, Al-Misri (2004) argues that it is better for Islamic banks to stop calling the markup in their credit sales "profit" and instead list it as "interest," because the former may have no cap, while the latter is restricted by various contemporary anti-usury laws that protect people in need of credit from predatory lenders.

Islamic Finance: A Re-examination of Form and Substance

So, why do we need Islamic finance? Why should we go to the trouble of having an Islamic bank buy a property first and then sell it to the customer on credit, if the actual goal could be achieved more directly through a secured loan transaction? These questions must be answered in two steps: the first step is to recognize that if individuals are left to their own devices, they may over-borrow. Following religious law can act as a constraint. It serves as an effective pre-commitment mechanism to ensure that individuals do not abuse the availability of credit to their own detriment.

The second step is to recognize that religious adherence has historically been ensured through the observance of form, both in the realms of ritual and transaction. In this regard, classical jurists did their best to develop contract forms and their conditions to reflect the spirit of the law as much as possible. Contemporary jurists find it safest to work within the framework of formal and informal methods of Islamic jurisprudence when helping Muslims follow the spirit of the law. As we saw in previous chapters, Islamic jurisprudence is actually a common law system, even though it wears the cloak of canon law, and it focuses on precedent and analogy. Therefore, the contemporary process of adapting classical contract forms to modern needs will inevitably create temporary inefficiencies.

This inefficiency is only tolerable if we ensure that the spirit of the law that birthed these adopted forms is protected. Otherwise, it would be shameful to simply copy or adapt inefficient historical forms and waste the substance of Islamic law. Ideally, contemporary jurists should develop a modern jurisprudence within the context of current legal and regulatory frameworks that incorporates the substance of pre-modern law. This ideal might be achievable in the long run, but it seems impossible in the short term. In this regard, early jurists had the luxury of adopting Roman or other legal forms to seek efficiency. However, later jurists had to work under the heavy burden of sacred history, including an unrealistic worship of the so-called eternal wisdom of their predecessors.

Therefore, practical solutions for Islam in the short to medium term may gradually abandon pre-modern forms.

Regarding multiple paternalistic parties, we discussed the generally paternalistic nature of prohibitions earlier in this chapter. Let us look at the ban on interest (riba). It aims to protect people from too much debt and stops unfair payments or charges when someone borrows money or delays a payment. Some might argue that secular regulators also try, perhaps in a paternalistic way, to stop people from borrowing too much or falling victim to unfair, predatory loans. However, regulators care most about the health of the whole financial system. They only care about the financial health of specific individuals as a secondary concern. Because of this, regulators might allow deals that are risky for a few people. They weigh the well-being of specific groups against the well-being of the whole system, such as economic growth, which is their main job. Bankers also try to prevent too much debt. They give out loans based on how much debt a person has compared to their income and other standards. But bankers and loan officers work for financial institutions. These institutions do not care about the financial health of the system or the individual; they care most about their own profits. So, as long as the expected repayment rate is high enough to make a profit, they usually let many customers borrow too much.

Human time inconsistency and pre-commitment solutions

The limits set by regulators and financial professionals need extra protection for individuals to keep them safe from their own irrational behavior. Religious law can play this role. In this area, psychology and behavioral economics research show that humans are irrational when it comes to time preferences. Pre-commitment mechanisms, including those based on religion, can protect them from this. For example, most people would rather have 100 dollars today than 105 dollars in a year. But they would rather have 105 dollars in twenty years than 100 dollars in nineteen years. These and other time preference anomalies show that people act with dynamic inconsistency when it comes to saving, spending, and borrowing.

This study concludes that people often discount the near future, like one year from now, much more heavily than they discount the distant future, such as between the nineteenth and twentieth years. So, in the previous example, a 5% interest rate seems low for the current year, but it feels high enough for some arbitrary year in the future.

People with this time preference will choose to borrow $100 today, while sincerely planning to save money and pay back the loan in the future. However, when that future arrives, the value of spending now feels much higher than the value of spending later, so the person borrows even more money, dreaming that they will save enough later to pay off both loans. The cycle of debt never ends. Some of these people might see their income grow quickly, which eventually allows them to pay off their debt without needing to increase their savings rate. Many other debtors, however, get stuck in the debt cycle and eventually have to declare personal bankruptcy, which has become a small-scale epidemic in some Western societies.

Good loans and bad loans

Someone might ask why banks give out bad loans that lead to bankruptcy. The answer is that loans are rarely bad at the start. When the economy is doing well, many borrowers see their income grow, and banks have an incentive to keep lending to them because the number of defaults and bankruptcies is too low to hurt their profits. For example, in 1990s Asia, borrowed money was sometimes put into real estate and other assets that were rising in value quickly, which made loans backed by those overvalued assets look less risky than they really were. As the economy worsens and asset bubbles burst, too many of these loans could go bad at once, threatening the financial system. Regulators set limits to make sure bank operations do not threaten the whole system, though this approach is often reactive and fails to prevent later banking crises. In contrast, religious law aims to protect everyone by making sure individuals do not borrow too much. For example, imagine a Muslim client wants to buy a property through lease financing. If the real estate market is in a speculative bubble, this should become clear by comparing the rent the client pays to the Islamic bank—which is set based on mortgage market rates—with the actual market rent for the property. If mortgage payments are too high compared to rent, it usually shows a bubble exists. This shows the client is about to borrow too much money relative to the long-term value of the property used as collateral. Linking the rate to market rental rates should stop individuals from borrowing too much to buy the property. In this process, the client also ensures the implied interest rate is based on the market time value of the property serving as security for the debt.

If these factors are ignored, the Islamic bank just turns the client into a house slave or bankrupts them, while still following the classic contract forms in an Islamic way. This would be a shameful abuse of religion and finance. Even though we accept the necessary inefficiency of Islamic finance in following classic contract forms, ensuring the substance of Islamic law is followed is just as important, if not more so, because pre-modern jurists tried to embed that substance into those classic forms.

Side notes on loans in Islamic law.

We see here that the traditional ban on interest rate spreads in finance under Islamic law refers to the split-sale of credit, where it is hard to link interest rates to the market.

In this regard, the simplest form of split-credit sales is an interest-bearing loan. In fact, if a loan is seen as an exchangeable financial contract, meaning the repayment is seen as compensation for the amount lent, then even an interest-free loan would be considered forbidden riba (interest). Al-Qarafi argued in Al-Furuq, a legal theory book dedicated to explaining jurisprudential distinctions, that loans are not bound by riba rules because they are charitable in nature. From a religious perspective, the person providing the loan does not seek repayment as compensation, but treats the time value of the money or the benefit of the property lent as a charitable donation. Therefore, the companions of the Prophet and early jurists said they preferred to lend a coin and lend it out again after it was returned, rather than just giving it away as a charitable donation. A good loan has a direct charitable nature because the debt is forgiven if a poor debtor cannot pay it back. On the other hand, a poor borrower keeps their dignity by potentially paying back the principal, compared to someone who clearly accepts a charitable donation.

Even when the loan is repaid, the lender earns religious praise for sacrificing the time value of their property and proves they are willing to sacrifice the property itself if necessary. Therefore, Islamic jurisprudence excludes loans from the financial sector to keep their good, charitable nature. This is because all financial goals that can be achieved through commercial loans can be achieved just as well, or even better, through other forms of mutual contracts like sales or leases.
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Reposted from the web

Summary: This Beijing halal food map issue 51 compares Changying with Niujie and covers Jintianwang Barbecue, Lingganbao, Zanjin Lanzhou spicy skewers, ASIAN FOOD Turkmenistan Restaurant, MONAL China-Pakistan food, airport noodles, Indian food, and Lanzhou-quality beef noodles in Beijing.

1. Jintianwang Barbecue

2. Lingganbao Underwater Restaurant

3. Zanjin Lanzhou Spicy Skewers

4. ASIAN FOOD Turkmenistan Restaurant

5. MONAL Emerald China-Pakistan Friendship Restaurant

6. Bansamu Lanzhou Beef Noodles (Capital Airport T3)

7. Saduli Indian Restaurant

8. Quartet Lanzhou Spicy Beef Noodles

1. Jintianwang Barbecue



As someone from Niujie, I still think Changying has more good food. This is mainly because Changying offers more flavor choices and is friendly to young people. This newly opened barbecue place serves Qiqihar-style grilled meat.



When you enter, the server will ask if you want grilled meat (kaorou) or skewers (shaokao). If you choose grilled meat, you pick your meat at the counter, where the quality is clear to see. I picked these four items and they all tasted good, but the beef neck (shangnao) was the best.



Meat grilled over charcoal still tastes better than meat grilled with electricity.



Their dry seasoning is free, but the sauce costs extra. The owner gave us a free serving of sauce, which tasted a lot like the sauce used in stone pot bibimbap. The dry seasoning is a bit bland, so it is best to add some sea salt.



This meal cost 200 yuan. There is a parking lot at the entrance, but you have to pay for parking yourself. Parking in Changying is quite convenient, unlike in Niujie where you cannot find a spot even if you have the money.

2. Lingganbao Underwater Restaurant



Lingganbao is a children's playground in the Changying area. Their restaurant is open to the public and is halal. The owner is the same person who owns Changying Qingyanfang, and he owns the entire playground.



They have pasta, burgers, and pizza that kids love, as well as stir-fried dishes, barbecue, and staple foods for adults.



I really like their chicken burger. It is made to order and tastes especially good.



When I was in Malaysia, I could eat at children's playground restaurants whenever I wanted. It has not been this convenient since I returned to Beijing.



I do not recommend this Beijing-style meat pie (jingdong roubing). It was just average. I recorded a video of the children's playground that explains things in more detail.

3. Zanjin Lanzhou Spicy Skewers



A newly opened Lanzhou restaurant in Changying that specializes in Lanzhou barbecue and various snacks, as well as river-bank noodle slices (heyan mianpian).



They actually serve fermented vegetable broth (jiangshui) here, and you drink it straight from the bowl. It tastes sour and salty, which people from Northwest China will definitely love.





Lanzhou-style open-flame barbecue has a pretty strong sauce flavor.



This river-bank noodle soup (heyan mianpian) is really good; I noticed every table ordered it.



4. ASIAN FOOD



A new Turkmenistan restaurant opened near the China University of Political Science and Law in Changping. It is a small, alcohol-free restaurant, but they have a good variety of food.



Turkmen food is more like Turkish food. It is slightly different from Xinjiang food and also a bit like Russian food.









Their homemade yogurt is the plain kind with no sugar added, so it is very sour.



The grilled chicken wrap tastes good, but the pilaf (zhua fan) is made in a bit of a rough and simple way.



The Turkish pita bread (pida) is delicious. The whole meal only cost a little over 80 yuan, which is a great deal.



5. MONAL Emerald China-Pakistan Friendship Restaurant



The China-Pakistan Friendship Restaurant opened a new branch in 798. The weekday dinner buffet is 93 yuan per person, and there are also several individual set meals to choose from.









Mughal fish curry; the Mughal period refers to the time of the Islamic empire in India.



The kids love the pasta, and Fahim couldn't stop eating these crunchy balls.





Another highlight here is the freshly made milk tea, which is very popular.

6. Bansamu Lanzhou Beef Noodles (Capital Airport T3)



At Capital Airport Terminal 3, before security, there are two halal restaurants. One serves beef noodles and the other is a Xinjiang restaurant. They are right next to each other.



My flight was early in the morning, so I ate at Bansamu Beef Noodles because Sunaisi wasn't open yet.







Both shops have a similar style and both serve beef noodles. I don't know what the owners were thinking, opening right next to each other. They are just competing and making it hard for either to make money. The noodles taste okay, but this beef and egg combo cost over 70 yuan.



7. Saduli Indian Restaurant



Saduli opened this branch in Yizhuang. Their first shop is in Beiluoguxiang. The owner is from Kolkata and has lived in Beijing for over ten years. He married a Beijing local.



Their Indian food is very authentic for Beijing. It tastes great and business is good, so it is usually full in the evening.



This rose yogurt is especially delicious. Their curry is quite thick and goes well with naan bread.







There are parking spaces right in front of the restaurant. The roads in Yizhuang are well-planned and there is no traffic, so I really like coming here.

8. Quartet Lanzhou Spicy Beef Noodles



Not far from Saduli is another Lanzhou beef noodle shop. Its style is clearly different from traditional beef noodle shops, and you can tell right away it was designed by young people.



The restaurant is small, and most of the seats are single spots along the wall, which reminds me of small street shops in Japan.



The highlight here is the variety of chili oil (lazi) options. When you order, you can choose traditional Lanzhou chili oil, which is fragrant but not spicy. If you pick medium or extra spicy, it is a non-traditional flavor that is very hot, catering to different tastes.



About ten years ago, people said you had to go to Lanzhou for authentic Lanzhou beef noodles and that you couldn't get that taste anywhere else. I thought that made sense back then, but now, there is more than one place in Beijing where you can get Lanzhou-quality beef noodles, and this shop is one of them.
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Reposted from the web

Summary: This 2025 Guangzhou halal food map follows Xiaobei, Shangbu, no-alcohol halal dining, Asia International Hotel, Cantonese morning tea, Baghdad Cuisine, American-style barbecue, Xinjiang Mansion, Hui Muslim Restaurant, Antalya, MADO, Indonesian food, Lebanese food, and Middle Eastern restaurants.

I have been to Guangzhou at least five times. This time, a business trip gave me the chance to dine at several high-quality restaurants. I have a feeling that the variety of halal food in Guangzhou is now close to that of Beijing. It is worth noting that most halal restaurants in Guangzhou do not sell alcohol, which is extremely rare in Beijing. As both are top-tier cities, I think Guangzhou manages this because of an unspoken agreement among the restaurants. In the Xiaobei and Shangbu areas, where many halal restaurants are clustered, most do not sell alcohol. However, restaurants outside these areas do. This is just like in Xi'an, where halal restaurants in the Muslim Quarter (Huifang) do not sell alcohol, but those that open elsewhere do. This kind of agreement seems unlikely in Beijing, where most halal restaurants operate like lone wolves and find it hard to reach such a consensus.

The list of restaurants introduced in this issue is as follows:

1. Asia International Hotel · Asia Fengcai Xinjiang Restaurant

2. Yishanggong Cantonese Morning Tea (Guangshi Zaocha)

3. Baghdad Cuisine Restaurant

4. Yiyun Niudao American-style Barbecue

5. Xinjiang Mansion Cantonese Morning Tea (Guangshi Zaocha)

6. Hui Muslim Restaurant (Huimin Fandian)

7. Ma Xiaohuo Handmade Pulled Noodles (Lamian) and Barbecue

8. ANTALYA Turkish Restaurant

9. MADO Turkish Ice Cream Shop

10. Xianglan Indonesian Restaurant

11. Saba Restaurant

12. AL MANARA Lebanese Restaurant

13. ARMADA Middle Eastern Cuisine

1. Asia International Hotel · Asia Fengcai Xinjiang Restaurant



I heard before coming that the Asia International Hotel in Guangzhou had a halal restaurant, so I specifically stayed there for one night. It is an old five-star hotel located in Xiaobei. The facilities are quite dated, which felt like a big drop compared to the Mandarin Oriental where I stayed the night before. However, the hotel has an excellent location and view. The 45th floor is a revolving buffet restaurant where breakfast is served, and the hotel has a dedicated halal section.



Most guests staying at this hotel are foreigners, primarily Arabs, so there is also an Arabic restaurant on the first floor.



A Xinjiang restaurant called Asia Fengcai opened on the ninth floor of the hotel. Even though it is inside a five-star hotel, the prices are quite affordable, with an average cost of around 100 yuan per person.





Asia Fengcai is run by people from Ningxia, so the restaurant serves both Ningxia-style northwestern dishes and Xinjiang cuisine.



I tried the peppercorn chicken (jiaomaji) and hand-grabbed meat (shouzhuarou) for you, and both tasted good. The peppercorn chicken is on the spicier side.



Their hand-grabbed rice (shouzhuafan) is also excellent. They use quality ingredients and include everything that should be in it, which earned praise from my friend.



2. Yishanggong Cantonese Morning Tea (Guangshi Zaocha)



Yishanggong is the third halal morning tea restaurant in Guangzhou. It is also in Xiaobei, just 400 meters from the Asia International Hotel. I ate there twice and basically tried everything on the menu. Compared to the Xinjiang Building, this place is not as refined, but it has its own style. The service is better than at the Hui Muslim Restaurant (Huimin Fandian), and overall, it offers great value for money.



Morning tea is served from 7:00 to 15:00. You get a 22% discount if you pay before 10:00, and a 12% discount if you pay before 12:00. They only serve morning tea during the day, but switch to Korean barbecue and hot pot for dinner.



The servers here help rinse the bowls for you, which saves me the trouble. I would not mind skipping it, but rinsing bowls is a local habit for people in Guangzhou.



Of all the dim sum I tried here, I did not like their chicken char siu bao. I think the lamb char siu bao at the Hui Muslim restaurant tastes better. Everything else was delicious, and the dim sum is made to order, not pre-made.



The waitress wears a hijab and is very warm and attentive. The restaurant is alcohol-free.































3. Baghdad Cuisine Restaurant



The number of foreign restaurants in Xiaobei rivals Sanlitun in Beijing. This one serves Iraqi food, and I also found Amman, Guinean, and Liberian restaurants nearby, which are cuisines you cannot find in Beijing.



Baghdad Restaurant is on the fourth floor, right above the Amman restaurant.



A friend invited me to eat here because her crush is an Iraqi guy who is currently in Baghdad.





They serve a complimentary bowl of lentil soup before the meal, which helps with digestion.





We ordered grilled pomfret and a lamb leg rice dish. The lamb leg rice was especially good; the lamb was tender and juicy, and the long-grain rice was fluffy and not sticky.





4. Yiyun Niudao American-style Barbecue



A brother from Guangzhou brought me here. He said it is rare to find halal American-style barbecue in China, so he wanted me to try it. The last time I had halal American barbecue was in Dubai, and that meal was truly satisfying.



This shop is in Shangbu, an area where Yunnan Hui Muslims gather. Yunnan people rarely move north; they prefer coming to Guangzhou and Sanya. This shop does not sell alcohol.



My friend recommended the slow-roasted Angus steak and roasted lamb chops. They smell great. The slow-cooked Angus has a strong smoky flavor, and the lamb chops are tender and have no gamey taste. Even without alcohol, the shop is very busy. You have to wait in line during peak hours. It is best to book ahead for barbecue so you do not miss out.



Even their Xinjiang kvass (gewasi) tastes great. It is a non-alcoholic fermented drink that pairs perfectly with barbecue. The shop is not expensive, with an average cost of about 100 yuan per person.





Next, I filmed some restaurants near Shangbu. They mostly serve Yunnan flavors, including Zhaotong small meat skewers (xiaorouchuan).















5. Xinjiang Mansion Cantonese Morning Tea (Guangshi Zaocha)



Many people recommend the Hui Muslim Restaurant when talking about morning tea in Guangzhou. If I had to choose, I prefer the morning tea at the Xinjiang Building. Although they have not been making Cantonese morning tea for long, their food variety and service are better than the Hui Muslim Restaurant.



The morning tea here includes traditional Cantonese dishes and some new creations, especially those using Xinjiang ingredients. This is easier for northern tourists to enjoy, as outsiders might not be used to many authentic local snacks.



Morning tea originally just meant drinking tea in the morning. However, people started pairing it with snacks, and these snacks became so rich that they are now the soul of morning tea.



After sitting down, the waiter will follow the rules and ask what tea you want. You can choose from black tea, green tea, flower tea, or Pu'er. You are also welcome to bring your own tea bags. Then, they give you a menu to check off the snacks you want.



The first step of morning tea is washing the tea set. The basin in the top right corner is not for trash, but for cleaning tableware. Even though the tea set is already clean, Guangzhou locals like to scald it with hot water again. I follow the local custom and do the same, even though I do not really worry about whether the dishes are clean.



Cordyceps flower and Qingyuan chicken porridge (chongcaohua qingyuan huaji zhou)

Breakfast in Beijing, specifically in Niujie, is always soy milk, fried dough cakes (youbing), lamb offal soup (yangza), fried tofu soup (doupaotang), and baked flatbread with fried dough (huoshao jia youbing). This is not friendly for someone like me who goes to the gym every day. I like to change my meals up, so breakfast is the hardest part of my day. If I want a balanced breakfast, I have to make it myself.



Steamed chicken feet with golden garlic sauce (jinjiang suanxiang zheng fengzhua)

If you eat morning tea alone in Guangzhou, you can order about three dishes based on the portion sizes. You can eat something different every day for about half a month. After that, you can start the cycle over again, which gives people a reason to get up early every day.



Qingyuan chicken bun (qingyuan jirou bao)

Cantonese morning tea is mostly light and contains no spicy flavors, making it suitable for children and people with sensitive stomachs.



Beef short ribs in black pepper sauce (heijiao shaozhi niuzaigu)

Morning tea is served from 7:00 AM to 11:30 AM. On weekdays, you mostly see local Guangzhou people drinking tea. They have money and time. According to my Guangzhou friends, they do not care much about how they dress. They might go out in a worn-out tank top and flip-flops, but they are very particular about food. They believe that what you put in your stomach is what really matters, which shows the practical nature of Guangzhou people.



Supreme shrimp and chicken dumpling (xianxia jili shaomai huang)

My taste preferences have changed over the years. I do not have much of an appetite for large, heavy-flavored meals anymore. I focus more on healthy eating and prefer light, small, and delicate food. My love for Cantonese morning tea grows every day, but unfortunately, I cannot find it in Beijing yet.



Mango coconut milk cake (xiangmang yezhigao)

I once had Wuzhong morning tea in Wuzhong, Ningxia, and I think this is a very promising and innovative way to do breakfast.



Pan-fried curry beef buns (shengjian gali niurou bao)

If you are trying Cantonese morning tea for the first time, I think you must order the barbecue pork buns (chashao bao) and pan-fried buns (shengjian bao). Rice noodle rolls (changfen), shrimp dumplings (xiajiao), and steamed chicken feet (zheng fengzhua) are also the best dishes to represent Cantonese cuisine. You might not get used to the taste, but you should definitely try them.



Thai-style chilled durian mochi (taishi bingpi xue liulian)

You should also try the small Cantonese desserts. They are delicately made and look beautiful. They come in portions of three, which is a hint that you should bring two friends along.



Swan-shaped durian pastry (tiane liulian su)

This swan-shaped durian pastry is a new addition. When I came here last time, it was just the regular gold-medal durian pastry (jinpai liulian su), so they really put effort into the shape this time.



Pan-fried water chestnut cake (xiangjian mati gao)



Beef brisket egg noodles (niunan tang danmian)

Cantonese-style noodle soup and rice noodle rolls have a fresh, slightly sweet taste that many women enjoy. I don't particularly like them, as I prefer the salty and savory style of Northwest Chinese noodles, but since I am in Guangzhou, it is worth trying a bite.



Chestnut and mushroom chicken rice noodle rolls (jinli xianggu jirou changfen)

The yogurt cake and egg tarts are a kind of innovative fusion dish because they use dairy products from Xinjiang. Green vegetables hold an important place in Cantonese cuisine. Guangzhou people must have green vegetables with their meals, and here, green vegetables only refer to leafy greens; gourds and root vegetables do not count.



Xinjiang smooth yogurt cake (suannai gao)



Xinjiang milk egg tart (puta)



Boiled Ningxia choy sum (caixin)

People in Guangzhou care a lot about healthy eating. They want fresh ingredients and balanced nutrition. They cook with all kinds of land and sea animals. You can find these dishes at morning tea, which lasts until lunch. After a midday break, people go back for afternoon tea. When it gets dark and cool outside, there is a late-night snack culture. You can spend the whole day eating.



Original juice bamboo shoot shrimp dumpling (xiajiao huang)



Mango pomelo sago (yangzhi ganlu)



Malay satay beef tripe (jinjian du)



Dried fish and peanut congee (chaiyu huasheng zhou)



Healthy sesame cake (zhima gao)



Southeast Asian shrimp red rice noodle roll (hongmi changfen)

6. Hui Muslim Restaurant (Huimin Fandian)



Huimin Restaurant is a state-run Guangzhou classic that has been open for over half a century. Most of the customers are local people from the neighborhood. I asked my local friends in Guangzhou, and they approve of the food quality here. They serve morning tea, afternoon tea, and regular meals. If you come for morning tea on a weekday, you get a discount.



Inside the restaurant, a sign says they serve Hui Muslims before 9 a.m., but when I arrived before 9, I mostly saw local residents of all backgrounds. The restaurant has a strong state-run vibe, and the service is okay. The tea set is not as fancy as the one at Xinjiang Mansion. You only get one teacup and one teapot, and the space is smaller and noisier.



Lamb barbecue bun (yangrou chashaobao)

For Cantonese-style dim sum, the Hui Muslim restaurant makes it more authentic. Take this lamb barbecue bun, for example; it is the only one of its kind in Guangzhou. Barbecue pork (chashao) means roasting meat on a fork, then wrapping it in dough to make a bun. When steamed, the top of the bun splits open naturally. I eat this every time I come here, as it is hard to find such authentic and delicious barbecue buns once you leave this restaurant.



Chicken broth soup dumpling (jizhi xiaolongbao)

Soup dumplings are one of my favorite breakfasts. When my appetite is not fully awake in the morning, I prefer delicate flour-based snacks. I might not have the appetite to finish a large steamed bun.



Job's tears and beef tripe porridge (yizhao niudu zhou)

In Beijing, I would never expect to find such a variety of nutritious porridge for breakfast. I have to complain about the porridge here, though. It does not taste like it was freshly cooked this morning; it tastes like it was reheated from a pre-made batch. Freshly cooked porridge has a thicker texture, and this place is not as good as Xinjiang Mansion in that regard.



Coconut sticky rice cake (yexiang nuomici)

The dim sum tastes pretty good, but it looks plain. It is not as refined as the food at Xinjiang Mansion, so it is not great for taking photos to post on social media. Many friends have told me the service at the Hui Muslim restaurant is bad. I did not experience that myself, but in terms of small details, Xinjiang Mansion is definitely more comfortable for dining.



Curry beef rice noodle roll (gali niurou changfen)



Shrimp salad dumplings (shalü mingxia jiao)

The dim sum platter I had today tasted a bit salty; it wasn't this salty before.



Three-item dim sum platter

7. Ma Xiaohuo Handmade Pulled Noodles and Barbecue



I ended up at this shop by accident. I was catching up with a friend at a cafe, but they felt the air conditioning was too strong, so we moved outside. Suddenly, a storm hit Guangzhou. We ducked into this little shop to escape the rain, ordered some food, and were surprised by how good it was.



My friend had a bowl of pulled noodles (lamian), and I ordered a portion of Xinjiang rice noodles (xinjiang mifen). The rice noodles came with plenty of toppings and tasted great. The shop was clean and bright. Although it was small, the dining experience was very comfortable. It is a chain, and there are currently three branches in Guangzhou.



8. ANTALYA Turkish Restaurant



Antalya Restaurant's Liede branch was the first place we chose for our team building. The second floor has Central Asian-style decor where you take off your shoes and sit on carpets. You used to be able to experience this at Rumi's Secret in Beijing, but unfortunately, that location closed. However, a new Rumi's Secret opened in Urumqi, and I visited it the year before last; the environment there is even better.



For Middle Eastern cuisine, black tea and baklava are must-haves, along with my favorite Turkish coffee. Whether it is day or night, I always have a cup whenever I eat Turkish food.





Besides its rich texture and coffee grounds, a highlight of Turkish coffee is the cup. It must not be served in a clear glass; it has to be in an exquisite porcelain cup to be authentic.



Hummus (yingzuidou ni)

The overall feel of this restaurant is just like Rumi's Secret, and the prices are similar, averaging about 200 yuan per person. The flavors are a bit localized and lighter, which suits Chinese tastes better.



Chicken leg with Arabic rice.



Hollow balloon bread.



Mixed chicken and beef kebab platter.



Cheese flatbread (pide).



Lamb patty with yogurt.

I have to say a few words about this final ice cream; it is not as good as MADO, a Turkish ice cream brand that uses goat milk. I will introduce the MADO ice cream shop in Guangzhou specifically later.



Ice cream.

9. MADO Turkish Ice Cream and Coffee Shop.



MADO is very famous, and I had heard of it for a long time. I still remember the rich milky flavor of the MADO ice cream I ate in Beijing. Before coming here, I checked and found that there are two branches in Guangzhou. We ate at MADO twice because most of the members in my Guangzhou group are women who love it, so I had to arrange it.



The ice cream shop has a wide variety of sweets and also serves full meals. It is Turkish cuisine, but the quality of the meals is not as good as the ice cream, so I suggest only eating ice cream there.



When you enter the shop, you can order ice cream first. You can mix and match from over twenty flavors. You can order a four-layer serving with four different flavors, which is the best value.



You can also sprinkle various toppings on the ice cream. I like the original handmade ice cream the best; it has the silkiest texture and a full milky flavor. The other flavored ice creams are not as good as the original.



The girls love the raspberry flavor. Raspberries are red, sweet, and tart, and Lu Xun even mentioned them in his writing.



The Turkish restaurants in Guangzhou are mostly filled with foreigners who enjoy chatting and smoking shisha in the cafes.



Sultan's Boat

If you see the colorful ice cream on the menu and don't know what to pick, I suggest getting the handmade ice cream in the original flavor. It is the best and does not need any extra toppings.



Handmade ice cream



The Turkish coffee is made so delicately and even comes with a small flower for decoration. I felt happy as soon as I walked into this shop, and eating dessert always puts me in a good mood. I really hope they open a branch in Beijing, where many people still love eating ice cream even in the winter.



Shepherd's salad

The main courses are just average and do not taste as good as those at Turkish restaurants that specialize in full meals. It is better to come here for afternoon tea or a late-night snack to have ice cream and desserts.



Mexican grilled meat wrap



Turkish stuffed flatbread (pide)

10. Xianglan Indonesian Restaurant



Ever since the Southeast Asian halal restaurants in Beijing all closed down, I have not been able to find authentic Nanyang-style food near my home. The last time I had Indonesian food was in Kuala Lumpur, but I did not even eat Indonesian food this good while I was in Indonesia.



The first reason to recommend this place is that it made the Michelin Bib Gourmand list. This is Michelin's list for affordable restaurants, with an average cost per person under 100 yuan. Being on this list in a food city like Guangzhou really says something.



I think everything on their menu is a specialty. Basically every dish is delicious, including the drinks. I don't know how the owner and the chef manage to hit the mark so perfectly for every diner's taste buds.



Fresh lime and lemongrass soda and pandan coconut custard cake (pandan ruanxin yezhigao).

Many friends highly recommended this place to me before I even arrived in Guangzhou. My taste matches the general public's, so I had high expectations, but it was only after tasting it myself that I realized it truly lives up to its reputation.



Bali crispy duck (Bali dao zangzang ya).

Although this restaurant has many dishes, the portions are small. This is perfect for someone like me who wants to try new things without wasting food. Also, they don't sell alcohol, which gives me peace of mind while eating. The staff mentioned that the owner is an Indonesian Chinese.



Black nut beef soup rice (heirouguo niurou tangfan).

Since I have traveled in Indonesia, I know that traditional Indonesian food doesn't usually focus on presentation. However, this restaurant has clearly adapted to the local style in Guangzhou. They pay close attention to color combinations in every dish, so they look great in photos.



Rambutan beef fried rice (hongmaodan niurou chaofan).

There is only one Xianglan Indonesian restaurant left in Guangzhou, and you have to wait in line during meal times.



Seafood turmeric rice (haixian hui huangjiangfan).



Grilled chicken with candlenut garlic sauce (shili suanrongjiang kaoji).



Lemongrass and turmeric fried chicken (xiangmao huangjiang zha tuji).



Kaya and avocado toast (kaye niuyouguo kao tusi).



Snack platter.

11. Saba Restaurant



The name makes it clear this is a Southeast Asian restaurant, but they also serve Middle Eastern food. My friend and I chose this place because we once traveled to Sabah together and have many great memories. Meeting up in Guangzhou now, things feel just like they used to.



When we walked in, the restaurant was playing Quran recitations, and they do not serve alcohol. I was surprised to see that most of the diners were Black. Since my first visit to Guangzhou in 2015, I noticed that over 80 percent of the friends (dosti) at Friday prayers (Jumu'ah) were Black. Today, the number of Black people in Guangzhou has dropped by more than half, and it is rare to see them at Friday prayers now.



Tom yum soup (dongyingong tang).

The menu starts with Thai dishes, followed by Chinese and Western food. I chose the tom yum soup, and they actually served it in a small hot pot.



Pineapple fried rice (boluo chaofan).

I loved eating pineapple fried rice when I traveled in Malaysia. The version here was just okay. Maybe the setting was wrong, so it didn't taste right. Sometimes you need the right mood to enjoy good food.



Lemon tilapia (ningmeng luofeiyu).

I picked dishes we had eaten while traveling in Thailand and Malaysia to reminisce about our time wandering the world.

12. AL MANARA Lebanese Restaurant



Guangzhou used to have two Lebanese restaurants. I went to the other one only to find it had closed. This shop is a roadside storefront with no main dining hall, just a few tables set up outside. It is very simple.



Chickpea puree (hummus) with Arabic flatbread (khubz)

A lady from Northeast China works here and speaks fluent Arabic. The person grilling the meat is a Lebanese Arab.



Chickpea fritter (falafel) chicken wrap

This Lebanese restaurant does not have as nice an environment as Alameen in Beijing, but the taste is authentic and the prices are affordable. Overall, it is not as good as the Lebanese restaurants in Beijing, which makes me feel a bit better.



Lemon mint drink

13. ARMADA Middle Eastern Cuisine



Most halal Western restaurants in Guangzhou are run by Turkish people. This place, Armada, is the same and is located near Xiaobei.



Assorted flavor soup (mercimek corbasi)

My friends in Guangzhou had never been to this shop, so I brought them here to check it out. Once inside, I noticed the waitresses were wearing headscarves (hijab). It is an alcohol-free restaurant.



Shepherd's salad



Rose black tea



The ladies love drinking rose black tea. I saw a Moroccan specialty tagine on the menu, so I ordered it. Guangzhou used to have a Moroccan restaurant, but it closed down during the pandemic.



Chicken and eggplant tagine

The restaurant's grilled meat and meals are all delicious, better than the main courses at MADO.



Mixed grilled meat platter



Cheese and tenderloin pizza
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Reposted from the web

Summary: This China mosque travel guide visits Matou Town in Tancheng County, Linyi, the Ming-era Matou Mosque built in 1405, the Hui Muslim community around it, mosque calligraphy halls, local halal food, Linyi grilled meat, pancakes with lamb chops, and Ramadan suhoor memories.

While driving south through Linyi City, Shandong Province this year, I learned about a large Ming Dynasty mosque in Matou Town, Tancheng County. I drove for nearly an hour from downtown Linyi to reach Matou Town.

Matou Town



Matou Town is an ancient Muslim town and a community where Hui Muslims live. The town is full of halal shops, and I even saw a Muslim martial arts school.



The storefronts here still keep the traditional style of North China.



After walking through several small alleys, I found the Matou Mosque inside the village.



Matou Mosque was first built during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty (1405). It covers 13 mu of land and is the largest mosque in northern Jiangsu and southern Shandong. It is well-preserved and is currently a cultural relic protection unit of Shandong Province.



In the courtyard just inside the gate, there are several stones gifted by elders from different places.





There are several traditional calligraphy and painting exhibition halls in the courtyard. This is the first hall, and there is a second hall, both displaying non-religious artworks.













Inside the mosque, there is a monument to an anti-Japanese hero, Zhang Hongyi, who was a Hui Muslim. Zhang Hongyi served as the political commissar of the Southern Shandong Independent Detachment and was known as the political commissar of the Railway Guerrillas. He died in 1945 while fighting against Japanese and puppet troops. The martyr Zhang Hongyi is buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery in Feixian County, Linyi City.





There is also a women's prayer hall here.



















This ancient well was built in the third year of the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty. In 1939, General Luo Ronghuan led the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army into Tancheng. Eighth Route Army liaison officer Zhai Xinya, guided by a Hui youth named Lan Zhaofa, used the excuse of inviting an imam to slaughter a cow to enter the mosque's well pavilion. Under the cover of night, they took a shortcut to approach the enemy's blockhouse, destroyed the 'turtle shell' fortification, and successfully persuaded 360 puppet soldiers to surrender. Because of this, Lan Zhaofa honorably joined the Matou Hui Detachment.











There are several pieces of calligraphy on the walls of the corridor.



























There is a Hui Muslim culture exhibition hall in the courtyard, but it does not have any exhibits inside yet.





The list of donations (niyati) specifically marks our Han Chinese brothers and sisters.

Nanbeidao Mosque



Nanbeidao Mosque in downtown Linyi was first built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. After being rebuilt many times, it is now a modern building. It has a floor area of 1,235 square meters and a total site area of 8,995 square meters. The area around the mosque is filled with halal beef and mutton shops.





















Nanbeidao was formed by merging Nandao Village and Beidao Village, and this area is also a residential community for Hui Muslims.



Linyi Minzu Restaurant Main Branch



Our friends in Linyi invited us to eat local Linyi specialties at the largest halal restaurant in the city. This is also where Hui Muslims hold weddings. I heard this is not even the largest location, as the flagship store of Minzu Restaurant is even bigger. The owner is a local Hui Muslim and a classmate of my friend.



Linyi University is also super huge. It is known as one of the largest universities in Asia, covering an area of over 6,000 mu. Linyi University once offered Arabic language courses, but they have now canceled all minor language courses, not just Arabic.





The people of Linyi seem to have an obsession with being big. The portions of food here are also huge. The four of us, plus a baby, ordered four dishes and only finished half of them.



Stir-fried chicken (chaoji) is a must-eat in Linyi. You can find stir-fried chicken shops everywhere, but most of them are not halal.



Fahim especially likes eating Linyi pancakes (jianbing). We ate every bit of this plate of pancakes rolled with lamb chops.



I originally wanted to drink some meat porridge (sa) in the morning, but during Ramadan, the shops were not open yet after we finished our pre-dawn meal (suhoor). It is best to drink the first pot of meat porridge around 5 a.m.
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Reposted from the web

Summary: This 2025 Nanjing halal food map covers old halal brands and local stops such as Maxingxing, Qifangge, Lvliuju, duck shops, beef potstickers, crispy flatbread, the Tomb of Liu Zhi, the Tomb of the King of Boni, and Nanjing's Islamic heritage.

I wrote a map of halal food in Nanjing in 2017. Eight years later, the halal food scene in Nanjing has grown even more. During my trip to Nanjing for an annual meeting this year, I visited a few new spots and updated the information from my old post. I noticed that the sugar lotus root porridge shop (tangzhou ou) mentioned in my old post, Lan Laoda, no longer displays a halal sign. Since they also sell duck blood vermicelli soup (yaxue fensi tang), there is no need to visit it.

The list of halal restaurants featured in this post is as follows:

1. Maxingxing

2. Qifangge

3. Lvliuju

4. Anleyuan

5. Jiangyouji

6. Halal Yiguangge

7. Liji Halal Restaurant

8. Jinhongxing

9. Taoyuancun

10. Hanfuxing

11. Xiong's Braised Duck Shop

12. Old Ma's Duck Shop

13. Northwest Dongxianglou

14. Caoqiao Halal Beef Potsticker and Dumpling Shop

15. Little Wang's Crispy Flatbread (shaobing)

1. Maxingxing



Maxingxing Restaurant is the oldest halal restaurant in Nanjing. It has been around for over 160 years, dating back to the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty in 1845. It is one of the four famous old halal brands in Nanjing. Its four signature dishes are beauty liver (meiren gan), phoenix tail shrimp (fengwei xia), egg steamed dumplings (dan shaomai), and squirrel fish (songshu yu). Today, Maxingxing is listed as a piece of intangible cultural heritage in Jiangsu Province and was among the first group of time-honored Chinese brands recognized by the Ministry of Commerce. Most visitors to Nanjing want to try the local snacks. The potstickers (guotie) and soup dumplings (xiaolongbao) at Maxingxing are delicious treats you should not miss.

2. Qifangge



Qifangge is one of the four famous old halal brands in Nanjing. It was founded in 1917 by socialites and business leaders including Li Yangchao, Zhu Shouren, Liu Hairu, and Yu Zikuan. They pooled their money to open the Qifangge Halal Tea House near Chengsi Mosque on what was then Qiwang Street (now Jiankang Road), focusing on halal snacks. The century-old snack set offered by Qifangge serves small portions of many items, allowing you to try all the famous Qinhuai River snacks at once.

3. Green Willow House (Lvliuju)



Green Willow House started in 1912. It is a Jiangsu Province Intangible Cultural Heritage site famous for its vegetarian and halal dishes. Records show that Bai Chongxi, Sun Yat-sen, and the Soong sisters were all regular customers at Green Willow House. The first floor is a supermarket for their homemade food, with hundreds of finished or semi-finished products. The second floor serves snacks, the third floor serves stir-fried dishes, and the floors above that have private dining rooms.

4. Anleyuan



Anleyuan is the largest halal restaurant in Nanjing. It is known as the number one halal restaurant in the Jiangnan region. The building in the picture is only for stir-fried dishes. Next to it, there is another building for snacks and one for hot pot. You can eat famous Nanjing dishes here like salt-water duck (yanshui ya) and squirrel-shaped mandarin fish (songshu guiyu).

5. Jiang Youji



Jiang Youji is another century-old halal brand in Nanjing. Its most famous dish is beef potstickers (niurou guotie), which are known as one of the Eight Wonders of Qinhuai. A few years ago, there was a lawsuit over the brand name. That does not matter to diners, though. We do not care if the successor is the official one; if the food does not taste good, it is useless no matter how official they are.

6. Yiguangge



Yiguangge is a long-standing shop in Nanjing. The owner owns the building, so they do not pay rent and the prices are cheap. I came here to eat crayfish. Crayfish is a common home-cooked dish in the Jiangnan region, and you naturally have to eat authentic halal crayfish when you come to Nanjing.

7. Liji Halal Restaurant



Liji Halal Restaurant only has this one location in Nanjing with no other branches. It is a long-established shop that sells various Nanjing snacks. There are too many varieties, and each snack comes in different flavors. When eating Nanjing soup dumplings (xiaolongbao), the skin is thin and there is a hole on top. You can suck the soup out from the top before eating the dumpling, but be careful not to burn your mouth.

8. Taoyuancun



Taoyuancun pastries originated on Niujie Street in Beijing over 150 years ago. Later, they moved to Shanghai and opened a factory near the Xiaotaoyuan Mosque, which is why they were named Taoyuancun. During the Republic of China era, Taoyuancun was invited by the government to enter the Nanjing Central Shopping Mall and officially became a local Nanjing halal pastry brand.



9. Jinhongxing Duck Shop



Jinhongxing's duck is as popular as the deli food at Jubaoyuan, with people lining up all day long. You must try authentic Nanjing roast duck when in Nanjing. It is very different from the Beijing style. Nanjing roast duck can be sliced and eaten by dipping it directly into the sauce. This shop is for takeout, and you can have the owner vacuum-pack it on the spot to take away.

10. Hanfuxing



Founded during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, Hanfuxing Salted Duck Shop is the largest halal food company in Nanjing. It is a time-honored Chinese brand that specializes in products like salted duck (banya). Hanfuxing Duck Shop now has many branches in Nanjing, and the Han family's sweet-scented osmanthus duck (guihuaya) is their signature dish.

11. Xiongji Braised Duck Shop



Xiongji is a duck shop that locals love. The duck has a slightly sweet taste. There are a few other shops in Nanjing that display halal duck signs, but People say they do not guarantee they are truly halal.

12. Malaosan Duck Shop



Malaosan's duck is salty and savory. They also sell braised duck wings and duck necks, and they can vacuum-pack them for nationwide delivery.

13. Xibei Dongxianglou



If you are invited to an iftar meal during Ramadan, choose this place. It is a Dongxiang hand-grabbed mutton (shouzhu) restaurant with three floors and plenty of space. They do not sell alcohol, and there is a parking lot at the entrance.

14. Caoqiao Halal Beef Potsticker and Dumpling Shop



Dumplings are called bianshi in Nanjing. The potstickers (guotie) at this shop are also quite delicious, and the Caoqiao Mosque is nearby.

15. Xiaowang Crispy Flatbread



This is a halal flatbread (shaobing) shop right at the main entrance of the Caoqiao Mosque. They bake their crispy flatbreads in traditional coal ovens, which is rare and very tasty.

For friends who enjoy halal travel, the tomb of Liu Zhi is a must-visit spot in Nanjing. Liu Zhi, also known as Liu Jielian Baba, was a Nanjing local and the pioneer of the theory of Sinicization of Islam.



There is also the Tomb of the King of Boni. Boni is Brunei, and the King of Brunei once visited Nanjing. The area around this tomb was originally planned to be a Brunei cultural park, but it has since been abandoned.


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