contradiction in the Qur’an regarding the prohibition of usury and the command to do so

 Content of the doubt:

Some sophists claim that there is a contradiction between the words of Allah the Almighty: “Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury” (Al-Baqarah: 275), and His words the Almighty: “Until they pay the jizyah with willing submission (29)” (At-Tawbah); because they think that the jizyah is usury, and they ask: How can Allah forbid usury in one place, then command it in another place?!

The way to invalidate the doubt:
Usury differs in meaning and ruling from the jizyah; because:
· Usury is any increase stipulated in advance on the capital in return for a term alone, and its ruling is prohibition.
· Jizyah is money paid by the People of the Book and those who follow them to the Muslims in return for their protection.

Details:
Usury differs in meaning and ruling from the jizyah:
1. Usury: It is an increase stipulated in advance on the capital in return for a term alone, and it is prohibited. It is inconceivable that Allah would forbid people something and threaten them with the most severe threat for doing it while they do not know what it is?! Usury is a well-known matter that the Arabs dealt with in the pre-Islamic era and others dealt with, and the Jews have known about it for a long time. If this usury was obscure, the Companions would have asked about it so that they would know it, as they were the most eager people to know their religion.
Usury has been forbidden by the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and consensus. The Holy Qur’an says: “Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury” (Al-Baqarah: 275), and it says: “O you who have believed, do not consume usury, doubled and multiplied” (Al-Imran: 130). In the Noble Prophetic Sunnah, on the authority of Abu Sa’id, he said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “Do not sell gold for gold except like for like, and do not increase[1]some of it over some, and do not sell what is absent[2]for what is already there”(3][4]. The scholars of the Islamic nation have unanimously agreed on the prohibition of usury[5].
The wisdom behind prohibiting usury is: to achieve fair participation between money and work, and to bear the risk and its results with courage and responsibility, which is the justice of Islam, as it does not favor work against capital, nor capital against work.
2. As for the jizya: it is a small amount taken from the People of the Covenant every year in exchange for protecting them, and Muslims pay in return - and much more than that - the zakat of their money, and they even pay their blood to defend the country and its inhabitants, including the People of the Covenant[6].
Among the characteristics of the jizya are:
1. The jizya is an obligatory right, which God has made obligatory upon the People of the Covenant according to the text of the Holy Qur’an: “Until they pay the jizyah willingly while they are subdued (29)” (At-Tawbah).
2. The jizya has the meaning of humiliation for the People of the Covenant, and humiliation here means: submission to the authority of the Islamic state.
3. The jizya was legislated in exchange for sparing the blood of the People of the Covenant.
4. The jizya is imposed on adult males who are able to pay it, and is not imposed on women, children, the insane, or poor monks.
5. The jizya is taken from the dhimmi once a year, and it has no specific amount, and it is up to the Imam of the Muslims to decide on that.
Muslim jurists have permitted dropping the name of jizya from the people of the dhimma, and taking what is taken from them under the name of “zakat” or “tax,” as long as they disdain the word “jizya.” This is what Omar bin Al-Khattab - may God be pleased with him - did with Banu Taghlib when he tried to impose jizya on them, and they said to him: We do not pay what the non-Arabs pay, but take from us as some of you take from others - meaning charity. Omar said: No, this is the obligation of the Muslims. They said:
As for the amount of the jizya: it could be the amount of zakat paid by Muslims, but historical reality shows that it was much less than that, and it is a substitute for military service, unless they joined the army and performed the prescribed service as a Muslim does, in which case the jizya is removed from the dhimmis.

Conclusion:
There is no contradiction between the two verses that we are dealing with, as usury is any increase stipulated in advance on the capital in return for a term alone, and it is forbidden in Islam.
As for the jizya, it is a right that is obligatory on the dhimmis that they pay to the Islamic state in exchange for sparing their blood and defending them, and it is obligatory, and is taken from the dhimmi once a year.
 

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[1] Tashfaw: meaning do not give preference, and shaf: is used to mean deficiency, so it is one of the opposites.
[2] Absent: meaning deferred.
[3] Najiz: present.
[4] Narrated by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih, Book of Sales, Chapter on Selling Silver for Silver (2068), and in other places, and Muslim in his Sahih, Book of Musaqah, Chapter on Usury (4138).
[5] Solutions to the Problem of Usury, Dr. Muhammad Abu Shabah, Maktabat Al-Sunnah, Cairo, 1st ed., 1416 AH/1996 AD, pp. 40: 47, with some modifications.
[6] Dhimmah: the covenant, and the People of the Covenant: the Jews and Christians.