What is the ruling on taking the riba (usury or interest) of the bank in order to get rid of it?

The questioner : The questioner says: I am studying in America and I deposit my money in the bank out of necessity. The bank there gives riba (usury or interest), and if I do not take it, they benefit from it. So, should I take it and spend it on good causes? There are very poor Muslims in our town.

The Shaykh : First, I say that it is not permissible for a person to deposit his money in those banks. Because if these banks take the money, they will benefit from it. They may profit or lose; perhaps they profit and perhaps they lose, but they will benefit from it and direct it. It is well known that we should not allow the disbelievers to gain from our money.
If dire necessity calls for it, such that a person fears his money will be stolen or looted, or perhaps he fears for his life that he will be killed to take his money, then there is no harm in depositing it in these banks out of necessity. But if he deposits it out of necessity, it is not permissible for him to take anything in return for this deposit. It is forbidden for him to take anything.
How is it forbidden? Because if he takes something, that thing is riba (usury or interest), and there is no lawful gain; it is undoubtedly riba (usury or interest).
And if it is riba (usury or interest), Allah the Exalted said: only, you do not oppress and you are not oppressed.
The verse is explicit and clear that we are not to take anything of it. Leave it. Rather, you took it, meaning you have declared war between yourselves and Allah and His Messenger. If you repent after you have taken it, or before you take it and after the agreement, the verse is explicit and clear that we are not to take anything from these people.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon on the Day of 'Arafah in the largest gathering of Muslims, and said: Meaning, it is annulled and abolished. He abolished the riba (usury or interest) of the pre-Islamic age, the riba (usury or interest) that was contracted before Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) abolished it. He said: "Know that the riba (usury or interest) of the pre-Islamic age is abolished, and the first riba (usury or interest) I abolish is the riba (usury or interest) of which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) abolished, even though it was in a time when riba (usury or interest) was not forbidden in the Islamic Shari'ah, because it was in the pre-Islamic age.
If you say that if you do not take it, these people will attack the people regarding your wealth and take it and put it in churches and in the military equipment with which they fight the Muslims, then the answer is that if I comply with the command of Allah to leave riba, then what results from that is not my doing. I am commanded and required to comply with the command of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and if harms result from that, it is not my concern. Pay attention to this point, for I say I have a command that takes precedence. From whom? From Allah. Second, let us say: is this profit they gave me from my wealth? What do you say? No, it is not from my wealth, because it is permissible for them to work with the money and trade with it and lose. That is, my specific money that I gave them, it is permissible for them to work with it and trade with it and lose. So this profit they gave me is certainly not the growth of my property. Rather, they may profit from it, or profit more than that, or not profit anything from it. So it cannot be said that I gave them authority over something of my wealth, that they take it to the churches or to buying weapons against the Muslims.
Third, and is it the third or the fourth? The third is that we say: In taking this, one falls into what he acknowledges is riba (usury or interest), because this man will acknowledge before Allah on the Day of Resurrection that it is riba (usury or interest). So, if it is riba (usury or interest), can a person justify a thing by public benefit while he believes it is riba (usury or interest)? No. He says it is riba (usury or interest), but he took it to avert the harm he expects to occur by keeping the money. He says: Since you have acknowledged that it is riba (usury or interest), how do you take it when Allah has forbidden it? And there is no analogical reasoning against an explicit text.
Fourth, we say: Is it certain that they will spend this interest on what you mentioned, the churches or the interests of the churches, or on military equipment against Muslims? Is this certain?
It is not certain. If we take it, we fall into a confirmed harm to avoid a hypothetical harm. Reason forbids that; it forbids a person to commit a confirmed harm to avert a hypothetical harm that may or may not occur. It is permissible for the bank to take this interest for its own benefit, and it is permissible for the bank employees to take it for their own benefit. So, it is not certain that it will go to the churches or to military equipment against Muslims.
Fifth. If I made a mistake in the number, remind me. Fifth, if you take this which you claim is interest with the intention that you will spend it and remove it from your ownership to get rid of it, that means you have stained yourself with the evil in order to try to purify yourself from it. This is not logical. We say: Avoid the evil first before you stain yourself with it, and then try to purify yourself from it. Is it reasonable for a person to expose his garment to urine in order to purify it if it is struck by urine? Absolutely not. This is not reasonable. As long as you believe that this is forbidden and riba (usury or interest), and then you say: I will take it and give it in charity and disavow it and get rid of it. We say: Do not take it at all. Keep yourself pure from it. Sixth, we say: If a person takes it with this intention, is he certain that he will overcome himself and get rid of it by spending it in charities or public interests? Is he certain of that? Since