Dealing with a credit card out of ignorance and getting rid of unlawful money
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, a man has been dealing with a Visa card for five years while ignorant of its ruling, and he did not know about the previous increases. He has learned of it now and stopped paying the increase, but the bank is now demanding payment, so he referred the matter to the civil courts. What is his obligation regarding the past, given his ignorance? And what is his obligation now, especially if he is compelled to pay?
The Shaykh:
The one who goes to the court, as long as there is a dispute between him and the bank, goes to the court to reach a resolution, and they handle the matter. However, if he has money he gathered from riba (usury or interest) and from what is forbidden, and he repents to Allah the Exalted and wants to get rid of it, he puts it into a general public project to dispose of it, and he does not return to such things. If Allah wills.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh, what is the ruling on a progressive salary?
The Shaykh:
The project should be something other than mosques. Do not put it in a mosque project, or in Qur'an memorization, or in religious matters. Put it in roads, or in bridges, or in things other than acts of worship.
The questioner:
He says: May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
This is for the one who has repented and has money. As for saying, "I will take the money and spend it on these projects," that is not permissible. But this person has repented and has money; what does he do with it? He gathers it.
Honorable Shaykh, a man has been dealing with a Visa card for five years while ignorant of its ruling, and he did not know about the previous increases. He has learned of it now and stopped paying the increase, but the bank is now demanding payment, so he referred the matter to the civil courts. What is his obligation regarding the past, given his ignorance? And what is his obligation now, especially if he is compelled to pay?
The Shaykh:
The one who goes to the court, as long as there is a dispute between him and the bank, goes to the court to reach a resolution, and they handle the matter. However, if he has money he gathered from riba (usury or interest) and from what is forbidden, and he repents to Allah the Exalted and wants to get rid of it, he puts it into a general public project to dispose of it, and he does not return to such things. If Allah wills.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh, what is the ruling on a progressive salary?
The Shaykh:
The project should be something other than mosques. Do not put it in a mosque project, or in Qur'an memorization, or in religious matters. Put it in roads, or in bridges, or in things other than acts of worship.
The questioner:
He says: May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
This is for the one who has repented and has money. As for saying, "I will take the money and spend it on these projects," that is not permissible. But this person has repented and has money; what does he do with it? He gathers it.
Source
شرح نونية ابن القيم [45] — alfawzan.live (1:16:43)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.