The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2588 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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th (together,
sunna
),
ijma‘
, and
qiy
s
at least: claims to further sources would be disputed. U
liy(y)a is used for what in English might be called
fundamentalism
.
U
l
(school of Shi‘ite law):
Usury
.
The lending of money at interest. The exacting of interest on loans to a fellow-Jew is forbidden in the Hebrew scriptures (Exodus 22. 24), including loans to a resident alien (Leviticus 25. 35–7) but it is permitted on loans to a ‘foreigner’ (Deuteronomy 23. 20 f.). In the Middle Ages, Jews were excluded from trade and craft guilds, and money-lending became a common Jewish activity. The Christian Church forbade usury to Christians in 1179, but the canon law did not apply to Jews. The stereotype of the Jew in the late Middle Ages was thus of an avaricious usurer (e.g. Shakespeare's Shylock, Marlowe's Barabbas).
For usury in Islam, see
RIB
.

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