The bank pays me some interest every 6 months.
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:
Asslamalaikum
Maulana
I have an overseas account in India (currently Iam working in UAE). I have kept
some amount of money in my overseas accout for more than 2 years now. The bank
pays me some interest every 6 months. By Allah`s Mercy I have never taken
interest for my own use, but take the money and give to poor or needy people.
My question is that what Iam doing is halall or haram. If it is halaal upto
what extent and can I give the same money for the construction of a mosque or a
orphanage. Pls answer as soon as possible. Because this doubt is rovering above
my head from long time.
Barakallah
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Answer:
What to do with
interest money
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.
Your Question: My
question is that what Iam doing is halall or haram.
Allah
and His Messenger (saws) have indeed declared the receiving and paying of
‘riba’ as absolutely Haraam and prohibited for the believers in very strong
terms, and it is the prescribed duty of
every believer, who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, to abstain from dealing in ‘riba’.
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)!
My beloved brother in Islam, first and foremost one who
believes in Allah and the Last Day, must immediately abstain and stop taking
any interest.
It is not as if it is deemed permissible in Islam for one
to continue taking interest as long as he spends it on charity; for Allah does
not accept anything in His Cause unless and until it is pure and lawful.
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!’
Now the question arises what should one do with the
interest money one has already accumulated in the past in ignorance of the Laws
of Allah?
For the unlawful ‘interest’
money that one has accumulated in one’s past in ignorance of Allah’s Laws, the
person has two choices:
Some scholars are of the opinion
that it does not help the cause of the believers to leave the interest in
conventional banks for at best it helps them to generate more interest, and at
worst, they may dispose it to an institution which might work against the
Cause. In cases where one has already
accumulated interest money in ignorance of Islamic Law, and Allah Subhanah has
guided them, and they now wish to dispose off that illegal money, the scholars
are of the opinion that one may take this interest with the intention that he
wants to rid himself of this evil thing, and give it away to some charity without
seeking any reward from Allah Subhanah for this spending. His only intention should be get rid of this
unwanted and illegal money, and thus purify himself from the evil of
‘riba’. The believer who does this only
because he fears the accounting of Allah on an Inevitable Day, will, if Allah
Wills, be rewarded for keeping himself pure from the evils of ‘riba’.
The spending of illegally and unlawfully earned wealth
does not have any worth in the Sight of Allah; for Allah is Good and Pure, and
He accepts only what is good and pure.
The issue with the illegally and unlawfully accumulated
money is not how best to spend it, but how soon can one rid himself of this
illegal and unlawful wealth. His only
intention in giving this money away should be to purify oneself and get rid of
the evil that is with him. This illegal
and unlawful money earned from interest can be compared to a burning coal in
one’s hand! When one unintentionally
and accidentally holds a burning coal, his only intention is to get rid of the
burning coal from his hand; not where best to place it so that it can be of
some benefit to others!
Your Statement: I
have an overseas account in India (currently Iam working in UAE). I have kept
some amount of money in my overseas accout for more than 2 years now. The bank
pays me some interest every 6 months
Dear and beloved brother, a better and purer option would
be to invest your wealth rather than simply putting it in an interest-bearing
account…and if investment is not an option, then at least deposit the money in
a good Islamic Bank so that you may save yourself from the evil of riba….and if
even that is not an option, it would be best to leave your wealth in a
non-interest bearing current account….basically do whatever it takes to save
yourself from the evil of ‘riba’ and interest.
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."
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 Messenger
(saws)! What are they? " He (saws) said,
(The Prophet (saws) included ‘riba’ in one of the ‘Seven
Destructive Sins’. If we read the other
sins which accompany the list, one can imagine the magnitude of the sin of
indulging in ‘riba’)
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: If it
is halaal upto what extent and can I give the same money for the construction
of a mosque or a orphanage
Beloved brother in Islam, the Messenger of Allah (saws)
forbade the believers to build mosques with ‘zakah’ funds, leave alone build
the blessed Houses of Allah with ill-gotten and haraam wealth originating from
the evil of ‘riba’. It would be absolutely impermissible and
unacceptable in Islam for a believer who sincerely believes in Allah and the
Last Day to spend of what he has earned unlawfully on building a House of Allah
on this earth.
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!’
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
