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:

Assalamu alikum.w.w
i have two questions
QUESTION NO 1: Riba (interest) is haram in islam. Earnings of all the banks are based on riba. include riba free banks. so should i do job in bank. The earnings of bank is haram for me or not?

QUESTION NO :2 Our prayers should be pure and with out any greed or meaning of getting something as a remuneration of these prayers. on the other hand we always ask allah for every thing after every prayer in dua. my problem is that while praying, always a though comes to my mind that I am doing a good deed and may be ill get the reward of this, after that suddenly i thinks that we should not think about rewards because allah knows very well that who deserves rewards and who deserves punishments. On the other hand after prayer when i ask dua in front of allah my mind says that you are going to good because offered prayer. so are my duas are the symbol of my greed or i should not ask allah for my
bright future etc etc. i am confused in these two things. (1) our prayers should be pure and with out any greed. & (2) my duas are pure or not, and should i ask allah for my bright future or not??

 

(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:

 

Make supplications to Allah

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 none 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:  Riba (interest) is haram in islam. Earnings of all the
banks are based on riba. include riba free banks. so should i do job in
bank. The earnings of bank is haram for me or not?
Dear and Beloved Brother in Islam, it is not that the system of banking in its essence has been declared haraam in Islam; but what Allah and His Messenger (saws) have specifically and categorically declared absolutely forbidden and haraam is the concept of ‘riba’. 

 

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 2829        Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib

Ali 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.

 

There is absolutely no doubt that the conventional banking system is based on the system of ‘riba’, and even though one might not be involved himself in consuming ‘riba’, their working in such institutions would make them an accomplice in promoting and facilitating what has clearly been declared forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (saws).

 

One cannot say with absolutely conviction that the earning of every person working in a conventional bank is unlawful or haraam; but without an iota of a doubt, one would indeed have a share in the sin according to one’s level of participation. It would definitely be prudent and wise of the believers to fear Allah and seek to employ their talents and earn their livelihood from a source which is not doubtful.

 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith  3.267        Narrated by An Numan bin Bashir

The Prophet (saws) said "Both the ‘halaal’ (legal) and the ‘haraam’ (illegal) things are obvious, and in between them are (suspicious) doubtful matters. So whoever forsakes those doubtful things lest he may commit a sin, will definitely avoid what is clearly illegal; and whoever indulges in these (suspicious) doubtful things bravely, is likely to commit what is clearly illegal. Sins are Allah's Hima (i.e. private pasture) and whoever pastures (his sheep) near it, is likely to get in it at any moment."

 

If one facilitates any business which deals exclusively in what has been specifically declared as ‘haraam’ or unlawful by Allah and His Messenger (saws), like ‘riba’, prostitution, pornography, intoxicants, etc., then without an iota of a doubt, one would indeed have a share in the sin according to one’s level of participation.  

 

Your Question: Our prayers should be pure and with out any greed. & (2) my duas are pure or not, and should i ask allah for my bright future or not??

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 26 Surah Shuara verses 105-110:

105    The people of Noah rejected the Messengers.

106    Behold their brother Noah said to them: "Will ye not fear (Allah)?

107    I am to you a Messenger worthy of all trust:

108    So fear Allah and obey me.

109    No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the Worlds:

110    So fear Allah and obey me."

 

Whatever deeds one does in the life of this world, one should do so with the ardent desire and hope to earn the Pleasure and Good Will of their Lord Most High. 

 

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale-Imraan verses 132-136:

132    And obey Allah and the Messenger; that ye may obtain mercy.

133    Be quick (as if) in a race for forgiveness from your Lord, and for a Garden whose width is that (of the whole) of the heavens and of the earth…. prepared for the righteous.

134    Those who spend (freely) whether in prosperity or in adversity; who restrain anger and pardon (all) men; for Allah loves those who do good.

135    And those who having done something to be ashamed of or wronged their own souls earnestly bring Allah to mind and ask for forgiveness for their sins, and who can forgive sins except Allah?  And are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in (the wrong) they have done.

136    For such the reward is forgiveness from their Lord and Gardens with rivers flowing underneath an eternal dwelling; how excellent a recompense for those who work (and strive)!

 

If the ‘greed’ of one who strives to obey Allah and His Messenger (saws), and does righteous good deeds in accordance with the Guidance to obtain the Pleasure, Good-Will, and Forgiveness from their Lord…..and the ‘motive’ or ‘greed’ behind their obedience and their doing of righteous deeds is to be permitted to enter the Eternal and Everlasting Gardens of Bliss in the realms of the Hereafter…..Allah is our witness brother, that is the one form and manifestation of ‘greed’ worth having and developing further, if indeed one sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day!

 

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 17 Surah Israa verses 18-19:

18      If any do wish (only) for the transitory things (of this life) We readily grant them--such things as We Will to such persons as We Will: in the end have We provided Hell for them: they will burn therein disgraced and rejected.

19      Those who do wish for the (things of) the Hereafter and strive therefore with all due striving and have Faith, they are the ones whose striving is acceptable (to Allah).

 

Your Question:  (2) my duas are pure or not, and should i ask allah for my bright future or not??

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 186:

And if  My servants ask you,  O Prophet, concerning Me,  tell them that I am quite near to them.   I hear and answer the prayer of the suppliant,  when he calls on Me.  So let them respond to My call and believe in Me.  (Convey this to them),  perhaps they may be guided aright!

 

Nu'man b. Bashir reported that the Prophet (saws), said, "Verily supplication is worship."

Narrated by Ahmad and Sunan.

 

Abu Hurairah reported, "The Prophet (saws) said, "Nothing is more dear to Allah than one's supplication to Him.'' 

Narrated by Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

 

Salman reported that the Prophet (saws), said, "Your Lord, the Blessed and the Exalted One, is Modest and Generous, and He loathes to turn away His servant empty-handed when he raises his hands to Him in supplication."

Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Hibban.

 

To seek, or ask, or beseech, or implore, or supplicate Allah Subhanah for all of one’s needs and wants, regardless of whether that need or want is for this world or the Hereafter, is without an iota of a doubt, an act of worship in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.  The very fact that a slave of Allah chooses to raise his hands unto His Lord and beseeches Him for his lawful needs and wants signifies that the slave believes that his Lord is the Creator, Owner, and The Supreme Master of everything in existence, and that his Lord Alone Has the Power and the Ability to provide him his desires and his wants.  

 

Allah Subhanah absolutely loves those who turn unto and implore and beseech Him for all their needs; and Allah Subhanah does not love those who believe that they are self-sufficient and not dependent of Him, and do not implore or invoke Him for their needs and wants.  Thus regardless of whether one wishes or desires something as insignificant as the lost or broken laces of their shoes or one wishes for the ultimate reward of Al-Firdaus or Paradise….one should turn unto their Lord Most Gracious and humbly beseech Him and Him Alone for all their needs and desires.

 

What is absolutely forbidden and categorically prohibited in Islam is that one invoke or beseech any other than Allah Subhanah in the ‘unseen’ for their needs and desires….for that then would be a manifest crime and act of ‘shirk’!  But to turn unto the Lord Most Gracious and in all humility, awe, fear, and hope beseech and implore Him and Him Alone for all of one’s desires and needs is one amongst the noblest acts of belief and faith.

 

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