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:

My parents are no more and I have two sisters who are unmarried and no one to earn for them.My father in his lifetime has made provision of some money which has been invested in shares ,bonds and fixed deposits in banks.Is it haraam for them to eat of it.My elder sister is 52 years of age and my other sister is not of good health with bp and is 45 years old

 

Please guide in the light of the Quran and Hadith

 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

 

Answer:

 

Eat from interest

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 2826        Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Usury has seventy parts, the least important being that a man should marry his mother."

 

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3534  Narrated by Abu Umamah

The Prophet (saws) said: “If anyone intercedes for his brother and he presents a gift to him for it, and he accepts it, he approaches a great door of the doors of usury.”(Thus,  bribery is also a part of ‘riba’)

 

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," To join others in worship along with Allah, to practice sorcery, to kill the life which Allah has forbidden except for a just cause, (according to Islamic law), to eat up riba (usury), to eat up an orphan's wealth, to give back to the enemy and fleeing from the battlefield at the time of fighting, and to accuse chaste women, who never even think of anything touching chastity and are good believers.”   (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 what is the magnitude of the sin of ‘riba’)

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2829        Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib

Ali said heard Allah's Messenger (saws) cursed those who took usury, those who paid it, those who recorded it, and those who refused to give sadaqah.

 

Your Question: My father in his lifetime has made provision of some money which has been invested in shares ,bonds and fixed deposits in banks.Is it haraam for them to eat of it.

If the money is invested in shares of ‘Shariah’ compliant businesses that do not deal in anything which has been declared haraam by Allah and His Messenger (saws) (ie. the primary business of any of the companies is not from the haraam like alcohol, prostitution, swine, gambling, interest, etc.); there is absolutely no harm in consuming the profits that arise from the ownership of such companies.

 

Generally the concept of ‘bonds’ are directly associated with ‘interest’, and thus any profits derived from interest related ‘bonds’ would be absolutely impermissible for a believer who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day.

 

Fixed deposits in conventional banks are again interest based, and thus absolutely impermissible for the believers to eat or consume from such earnings.

 

Beloved Sister in Islam, without an iota of a doubt, the concept of conventional interest is a part of the evil and heinous sin of ‘riba’; and regardless of one’s circumstances, under no conditions does Islam allow the believers to consume interest or ‘riba’ in the least.

 

As your brothers and well wishers in faith, our sincere advise to you and your family is to fear Allah, seek sincere repentance of what has been consumed in the past, and with immediate effect relieve yourself from consuming any ‘earnings’ in the future which are derived from interest.  So hated and so despised is the consuming of ‘interest’ in the Sight of Allah Subhanah, that He has included the consumption of interest amongst the few sins (like shirk, disbelief, hypocrisy, pre-meditated murder, intentional dis-appropriation of inheritance, ‘zina’, etc.) which guarantee the person who commits these grave sins and does not seek repentance before his death, the eternal and everlasting fire of Hell!!!

 

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 275-276:

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 deeds of charity, and Allah does not like an ungrateful, sinful person.

 

If one trusts,  obeys,  and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),   one can be assured of never ever being misled;   but if one believes,  obeys and follows any other guidance,  other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws),  one can be assured of being led astray.  

 

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