I am working as a software developer and in a month time InSha Allah my salary will hiked and I will come in the Income Tax Bracket
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Salaam Walaikum
I am working as a software developer and in a month time InSha Allah my salary
will hiked and I will come in the Income Tax Bracket. The Income Tax is quite a
big amout for a year and to get rebate from Income Tax we have to show
investments. This investment could be a Home Loan , a Mutual Fund or investing
or buying shares.
For Home Loan I will have to pay interest which is a sin. Also I do not want to
invest my money in some financial institute because of interset which I will
earn. So what is the best thing to get rebate from Income Tax also could you
please tell me if I earn some money through Interest and distribute this money
in poor , is it legal in Islam.
Thank You
Jazaa Kalla
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errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
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confidentiality.)
Answer:
Take Interest to
give charity
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that
there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 274-276:
But
those who devour ‘riba’ become like the one whom Shaitaan has bewitched and
maddened by his touch. They have been
condemned to this condition because they say,
“Trade is just like ‘riba”,
whereas Allah has made trade halaal and ‘riba’ haraam. Henceforth,
if one abstains from taking ‘riba’ after receiving this admonition from
his Lord, no legal action shall be taken
against him regarding the ‘riba’ he had devoured before: his case shall ultimately go to Allah. But if one repeats the same crime even after
this, he shall go to Hell, where he shall abide for ever! Allah deprives ‘riba’ of all blessing and
develops charity, and Allah does not
like an ungrateful, sinful person.
Allah says further in the Holy Quran Chapter 2
Surah Baqarah verse 278:
O Believers!,
fear Allah and give up that ‘riba’ which is still due to you, if you are true believers. But if you do not do so, then you are warned of the declaration of war against you
by Allah and His Messenger!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah
Nisa verse 161:
That they took ‘riba’, although they were forbidden. And that they devoured men’s substance
wrongfully. We have prepared for those
among them who reject faith a grievous punishment (of Hell Fire)!
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2827 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Even
though usury be much, it leads in the end to penury."
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2829 Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib
Ali said he heard Allah's Messenger (saws)
invoke the curse of Allah on those who took usury, those who paid it, those who
recorded it, and those who refused to give sadaqah.
Your Question: could you please tell me if I earn some money through Interest and distribute this money in poor , is it legal in Islam.
Dear
and beloved brother in Islam, Allah and His Messenger (saws) have clearly and
absolutely prohibited and declared it haraam for the believers to accept, take,
or consume anything derived from ‘riba’ (usury or interest).
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 172:
172 O ye who believe! Consume of the good things that We have provided
for you and be grateful to Allah if it is Him ye worship.
Sahih Muslim Hadith 2214 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘O people,
Allah is Good and He, therefore, accepts only that which is good.’
As much as the giving of charity and sadaqah is deemed to
be amongst the most meritorious deeds in the Sight of Allah Subhanah, Allah is
Good and Pure and He only accepts which is good and pure.
Just as one cannot steal money and give it in charity
expecting rewards from Allah Subhanah; the charity one gives from wealth earned
from unlawful sources would have absolutely no merit or weight in the Sight of
Allah Subhanah; but rather the Lord Most Just will hold the person severely
accountable for earning his wealth from sources which are clearly described and
declared as absolutely unlawful for the believers.
It would be absolutely unlawful in Islam for a believer to
accept or take any interest whatsoever….and regardless of how one spends this
unlawfully earned wealth, he will be held severely accountable in the Court of
Allah Subhanah for indulging in something which has been clearly prescribed as
absolutely haraam for the believers.
Beloved brother, we are obviously not qualified to guide
you on how exactly to exact rebate from Income Tax in the country of your
reside….the best legal advice may be sought from a good tax-lawyer who is well
aware of the legal framework of the nation you live in.
What we do know from the guidance of the Quran and the
Sunnah is that it is not obligatory to seek rebate from the income-tax one pays
for the privilege of staying in a particular nation….but it is absolutely
obligatory for a believer who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day that he
abstains from indulging in ‘riba’ (usury and interest)!
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.28 Narrated by Abu Huraira
The Prophet (saws) said, "Avoid the
seven great destructive sins. “The people enquired, "O Allah's Apostle!
What are they? "He said, "1. To join others in worship along with
Allah, to practice sorcery, 2. to kill the life which Allah has forbidden
except for a just cause, (according to Islamic law), 3. to take riba (usury), 4. to eat
up an orphan's wealth, 5. to give back to the enemy and 6. fleeing from the battlefield
at the time of fighting, and 7. to accuse chaste women, who never even think of
anything touching chastity and are good believers.”
(The Prophet (saws) included ‘riba’ amongst one of the ‘Seven
Destructive Sins’. If one reads the
other sins which accompany the list, one can imagine the magnitude of the sin
and crime of ‘riba’)
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source
of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan