Question 3 Why is making a profit off a believer unlawful and usurious...

Question 3 Why is making a profit off a believer unlawful and usurious, or discouraged and reprehensible ( makruh )?[^4] Answer: The unlawfulness and usuriousness of making a profit off a believer or its being discouraged and reprehensible ( makruh ) is related to the time of the establishment of the government of truth and the Islamic state of Imam al-Mahdi ( ‘atfs ). Perhaps, at that time, such laws and regulations would be related to the conditions of the people and the market.

It is also possible that it alludes to the psychological makeup of the people at that time which would naturally express itself in their commercial transactions with each other. As a manifestation of this psychological makeup, the people would tend to avoid burdening others and gaining huge profits. Of course, any of these conjectures might be true provided that the hadith s in question are indeed authentic.

Question 4 Why will qatayi‘ (private estates) cease to exist during the time of Imam al-Mahdi ( ‘atfs )?[^5] Answer: In view of the fact that qatayi‘ here refers to the vast tracks of land registered under the name of a king or his agents, perhaps the hadith means that during his just government, Imam al-Mahdi ( ‘atfs ) will declare these land titles null and void, confiscate these tracks of land in favor of the public treasury and turn them over to their original owners who are the masses or the popular government.

Question 5 The Commander of the Faithful ( ‘a ) said: “Woe unto him who destroyed you (Kufah Mosque)! Woe unto him who facilitated the way to your destruction! Woe unto him who built you with mud and baked clay, and changed the direction of Nuh’s (Noah) ( ‘a ) qiblah !”[^6] Was this expression a warning because of the reprehensibility of the material used in the reconstruction (mud and baked clay), or because of the action itself of destroying and reconstructing the mosque?

Answer: Of course, it was because of the action itself of destroying and reconstructing the mosque. As recorded in history, it had been made up of woven reeds but during the rule of Mughayrah ibn Shu‘bah, a notorious and staunch enemy of the ( ‘a ), in Iraq, it was rebuilt with mud and baked clay.

Then, during the time of Ziyad ibn Abih, he destroyed and rebuilt the mosque with baked clay and acquired its foundations from Ahwaz.[^7] During the reign of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in Iraq he totally destroyed it which was partly damaged at that time and rebuilt it.