An accountant lends an employee from public funds against his salary
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Fatwa number ( 20270 )
Q: Some employees in government departments have a transaction with the treasurer (accountant) of their department, which was directed to me, and several employees in various government departments have inquired about it, seeking to know its religious ruling, whether it is permissible or forbidden. This is its description as they explained it to me:
The employee, and usually one who receives a small salary due to his responsibility and job position, exhausts his salary between the first and the tenth and fifteenth of the month, or after that, as a result of the debts and family obligations he bears, especially one who supports a large family. This leads him to agree with the accountant in his department to lend him a sum of money from the department's treasury. When the employee is paid his salary at the end of the month, the accountant deducts from it, before handing it to him, what he lent him during the month, along with taking a percentage of the money on that, agreed upon by both parties. The accountant considers this percentage as his own money, considering that he did a favor and kindness to the employee, as he mentions, when he lent him the amount at a time when the employee could not find anyone to lend him money to help him meet his needs. This is the common case. Some accountants are content with merely recovering the money they lent the employee from the treasury during the month without taking a percentage on that, due to the established relationship between them, or for other considerations. The employee mentions that he does this out of necessity. It is known that this is not officially recorded in the salary disbursements; rather, the employee signs for the receipt of his due salary, and then they carry out their agreement before he is handed the salary in his hand. It is a verbal agreement. They mention that they heard from some brothers that this transaction is forbidden,
and some of them permitted it as long as the condition of necessity remains. The matter became confusing for them in this regard, and they direct the following question: Is it permissible for the employee to borrow from the department's treasury funds through the accountant, given his necessity for it, and the accountant deducts it from his salary when it is paid at the end of the month in which he borrowed? And if that is not permissible, whether the accountant takes a percentage of the money on that or not, does sin attach to the one who did it while he was ignorant of the religious ruling, or it was confusing to him, or he knew it? And in the case that sin attaches to the one who did it, what is the way out of it? Is an expiation obligatory on him, or what? And if he knows the religious ruling, is it obligatory for him to advise the one who does it to abandon it, or not? And if they persist in it, is it obligatory for the one who knows it to report it to the head of his department, or is it permissible for him to remain silent about it? And what is the basis of the solution or the prohibition in what was mentioned, with mentioning its evidence?
A: If the reality is as mentioned in the question, then this action is not permissible; because the treasurer does not have the right to dispose of the department's money deposited with him; because he is a trustee, and a trustee does not dispose of what he is trusted with. And what he takes of the mentioned percentage from the borrower is not lawful for him; because it is in exchange for an action that is not permissible for him to do, which is lending the money of another without his permission. Likewise, it is not permissible to take the increase if the lending is from his personal money; because the increase
stipulated in a loan is explicit, forbidden riba (usury or interest) by the text of the Book and the Sunnah. So it is obligatory for him to preserve the money he is trusted with until he hands it over to its owners. And it is not lawful for the one to whom the amount was paid in the form of a loan to take it; because the one who paid it to him is not its owner, nor is he authorized in it. And both of them must repent to Allah and not return to such an action. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Q: Some employees in government departments have a transaction with the treasurer (accountant) of their department, which was directed to me, and several employees in various government departments have inquired about it, seeking to know its religious ruling, whether it is permissible or forbidden. This is its description as they explained it to me:
The employee, and usually one who receives a small salary due to his responsibility and job position, exhausts his salary between the first and the tenth and fifteenth of the month, or after that, as a result of the debts and family obligations he bears, especially one who supports a large family. This leads him to agree with the accountant in his department to lend him a sum of money from the department's treasury. When the employee is paid his salary at the end of the month, the accountant deducts from it, before handing it to him, what he lent him during the month, along with taking a percentage of the money on that, agreed upon by both parties. The accountant considers this percentage as his own money, considering that he did a favor and kindness to the employee, as he mentions, when he lent him the amount at a time when the employee could not find anyone to lend him money to help him meet his needs. This is the common case. Some accountants are content with merely recovering the money they lent the employee from the treasury during the month without taking a percentage on that, due to the established relationship between them, or for other considerations. The employee mentions that he does this out of necessity. It is known that this is not officially recorded in the salary disbursements; rather, the employee signs for the receipt of his due salary, and then they carry out their agreement before he is handed the salary in his hand. It is a verbal agreement. They mention that they heard from some brothers that this transaction is forbidden,
and some of them permitted it as long as the condition of necessity remains. The matter became confusing for them in this regard, and they direct the following question: Is it permissible for the employee to borrow from the department's treasury funds through the accountant, given his necessity for it, and the accountant deducts it from his salary when it is paid at the end of the month in which he borrowed? And if that is not permissible, whether the accountant takes a percentage of the money on that or not, does sin attach to the one who did it while he was ignorant of the religious ruling, or it was confusing to him, or he knew it? And in the case that sin attaches to the one who did it, what is the way out of it? Is an expiation obligatory on him, or what? And if he knows the religious ruling, is it obligatory for him to advise the one who does it to abandon it, or not? And if they persist in it, is it obligatory for the one who knows it to report it to the head of his department, or is it permissible for him to remain silent about it? And what is the basis of the solution or the prohibition in what was mentioned, with mentioning its evidence?
A: If the reality is as mentioned in the question, then this action is not permissible; because the treasurer does not have the right to dispose of the department's money deposited with him; because he is a trustee, and a trustee does not dispose of what he is trusted with. And what he takes of the mentioned percentage from the borrower is not lawful for him; because it is in exchange for an action that is not permissible for him to do, which is lending the money of another without his permission. Likewise, it is not permissible to take the increase if the lending is from his personal money; because the increase
stipulated in a loan is explicit, forbidden riba (usury or interest) by the text of the Book and the Sunnah. So it is obligatory for him to preserve the money he is trusted with until he hands it over to its owners. And it is not lawful for the one to whom the amount was paid in the form of a loan to take it; because the one who paid it to him is not its owner, nor is he authorized in it. And both of them must repent to Allah and not return to such an action. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.