The Saudi Monetary Authority’s dealings with banks involving riba (usury or interest)

Question:
Our father, Your Eminence the Shaykh! If the prohibition of riba (usury or interest) is as everyone knows, and as our scholars have explained in this seminar, how does the Saudi Monetary Authority deal with riba (usury or interest) with international banks, and we take interest from them? Please advise us.

Answer:
If this is true, the state should be sent a notice, or the state should be alerted that it is doing this. This must be addressed to the state; the state must be corrected so that it does not do this. If the state is Muslim, it is obligatory for it to stay away from riba (usury or interest), whether in the institution or elsewhere. It is also obligatory for it to eliminate the people of banks who deal in riba (usury or interest) by the means available, to prevent them from riba (usury or interest), and to hold them accountable before Allah.