The Ruling on Accepting Food from One Who Works in a Riba Bank and the Advice
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: My neighbor works in a riba (usury or interest) bank, and he brings us food. The question is: Is there any blame on us for accepting his food? And what is the ruling on advising him and reminding him of Allah? Or should we reject his food, even if that leads to his aversion and his refusal to accept the advice?
Answer:
As for the advice, it is obligatory for him and for anyone else you see making a mistake; advice is obligatory. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 4197Sahih (Darussalam) Advice is necessary.
As for the food, if he has other sources of income besides what he gets from the bank, if he has other sources, then it is permissible to eat from his food, because it is not established that this food is from what is forbidden; rather, it is possible that it is from what is lawful. The default ruling for foods is that they are lawful, except for what evidence indicates is forbidden. So as long as he has both lawful and unlawful income, it is permissible to eat from his food. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ate from the food of the Jews, and they dealt in riba and ate illicit wealth, which is bribery and is forbidden, because they had sources other than the unlawful.
As for if his only source is the unlawful, then it is not permissible to eat from it. If you know that he has no other source and that this food is from the unlawful, then do not eat from it, because it is forbidden.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: My neighbor works in a riba (usury or interest) bank, and he brings us food. The question is: Is there any blame on us for accepting his food? And what is the ruling on advising him and reminding him of Allah? Or should we reject his food, even if that leads to his aversion and his refusal to accept the advice?
Answer:
As for the advice, it is obligatory for him and for anyone else you see making a mistake; advice is obligatory. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Religion is sincerity (An-Nasihah).' They said: 'To whom, O Messenger of Allah?' he said: 'To Allah, to His Book, to His Messenger, to the imams of the Muslims, and to their common folk
الدين النصيحة الدين النصيحة الدين النصيحة قلنا لمن يا رسول الله؟ قال لله ولكتابه ولرسوله ولأئمة المسلمين وعامتهمAs for the food, if he has other sources of income besides what he gets from the bank, if he has other sources, then it is permissible to eat from his food, because it is not established that this food is from what is forbidden; rather, it is possible that it is from what is lawful. The default ruling for foods is that they are lawful, except for what evidence indicates is forbidden. So as long as he has both lawful and unlawful income, it is permissible to eat from his food. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ate from the food of the Jews, and they dealt in riba and ate illicit wealth, which is bribery and is forbidden, because they had sources other than the unlawful.
As for if his only source is the unlawful, then it is not permissible to eat from it. If you know that he has no other source and that this food is from the unlawful, then do not eat from it, because it is forbidden.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم قبول الطعام ممن يعمل في بنك ربوي؟ وكيف ننصحه؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.