Gaddafi, the President of Libya, deposits his money in banks, and some scholars have issued a fatwa for him to take the interest so that the Jews do not take it. What is your opinion on this?
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The questioner: Gaddafi has deposited his money in the banks...
The Shaykh : Yes, did I understand?
The questioner: Gaddafi is the President of the Republic of Libya.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: Some scholars issued a fatwa for him that he is allowed to take the interest so that the Jews do not take it...
The Shaykh : I think our answer is known from what came before, but in response to this statement: did they issue a fatwa permitting him to deposit money in banks and take the interest?
The questioner: No...
The Shaykh : Then be patient. I understood you, but I am clarifying this. Did they not issue a fatwa for depositing money in the bank, but rather tell him that since he has deposited the money in the bank, the interest becomes lawful for him? Is that what they told him? After they issued this fatwa, did he withdraw the money from the banks, or did he leave it?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, it is known, but the important point is these rich people who were afflicted by depositing their money in banks, and were issued a fatwa permitting them to benefit from the interest. These people repented to Allah, turned back to Him, and withdrew their money from the banks. And so that they would not leave the interest for those who benefit the Jews, as they claimed, they took the interest. But what did they do with the principal?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Is this lawful or forbidden?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, my brother. We said earlier, using the common Syrian proverb: "The one who does not want to see disturbing dreams does not sleep between the graves." That is, the one who does not want to be exposed to this calamity. Is it permissible for us to take the interest, or is it not permissible? He should withdraw the money from the bank because he is fighting Allah and His Messenger. So the one who is fighting Allah and the Messenger comes to ask: "Do you think this interest is lawful for me or not?" Your original act of depositing the money is forbidden for you, the most severe kind of prohibition, because it brings the curse. And we said earlier:Sahih Muslim 1598. So if he is a Muslim, he does not come to ask if the interest is lawful for him while he is persisting in what? In depositing riba in the bank. Rather, he repents to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) immediately by withdrawing the money, because repentance is not just a movement of the tongue, but with the heart and the whole self. He withdraws the money from there, no matter how much it is. After that, this question is answered. But while he is persisting in keeping the money in the bank, asking "Is it permissible for me to benefit from this money rather than the Jews benefiting from it?" No, by your depositing of the money, which you are doing harm to the Jews with, do you think if he took the interest, whether it is the president himself or someone else, the Jews would stop benefiting from this money, or would the interest continue? It continues, without a doubt. Because what feeds these banks, what grows them, what maintains their remnants and their life? It is these huge amounts of capital that return to these disbelieving banks from Muslim countries. So if this great rich man, or this king, or minister, or president... if they all agreed to stop fighting Allah and His Messenger and withdrew these moneys, do you think the Jews would be harmed or would they benefit? They would be harmed, without a doubt. So why do you argue that the Jews will benefit from the interest if we leave it in the banks? They do not argue that if we continue to keep these amounts of capital, the Jews will benefit. This is one of the tricks of Satan to make lawful what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has forbidden. And it is not permissible for us to come to the justification of legal rulings with these justifications, which contradict the texts of the Shari'ah. And if Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: [Al-Baqarah 2:279], how is it permissible for a Muslim who believes in Allah and His Messenger to say: "No, we take these interests and benefit from them rather than the Jews benefiting from them"? This is one of the tricks of Satan. First, it strikes the text in the heart: [Al-Baqarah 2:279]. Second: it is a blatant deception, because if they were sincere in that they are withdrawing these interests so that the Jews do not benefit from them, they should withdraw the principal so that the Jews do not benefit from it.
The questioner: ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner: ...
The Shaykh : So, do we want to issue fatwas for people according to their wishes? We issue fatwas for them with what Allah has legislated, whether they stop or they do not stop. Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) said to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):[Ash-Shuraa 42:48]. He said: [Al-Ghashiyah 88:22-24]. So what is our concern, whether they stopped or did not stop? And the modern wisdom today is "Say your word and walk away." Did they stop or did they not stop? Are we guides who are tyrants and compellors? Our duty is only to convey, only to explain, and only to convey. Whether they stopped or did not stop, this does not concern us, little or much. Please, Umm 'Isam, I do not know, 'Asim.
The questioner: ...
The Shaykh : Until we hear about the method of dealing with him, so we can answer about him. And I read in a magazine that reaches me from India, called the Da'wah Magazine. And it is perhaps desirable in reality that we read to you some things from it. There, the Islamic Group listens to what their president, Professor Maududi, used to say, and then, later.
The student : ...
The Shaykh : No, it is not Abu al-Hasan al-Nadwi.
The student : It is Abu al-A'la.
The Shaykh : Abu al-A'la Maududi. Later, the current president is someone else, but he is still a man who has his virtue there. So they wrote here an article praising the interest of the Islamic bank that they themselves established.
The questioner: They established it.
The Shaykh : They themselves. You will hear a small amount, but the important thing, as the old Arabic proverb says, "The first of the rain is drops, then it pours down in abundance." It says: The news reports that the non-interest cooperative society belonging to the Islamic Group in Ahmedabad, in the state of... lent people during the year 1974-75, that is, Gregorian, a loan of two hundred and twenty-four thousand rupees and thirty-five paise. And by that, hundreds of people were saved from paying riba, not less than forty thousand rupees. That means they saved forty thousand rupees of riba that they did not pay, and no one received... And this money was collected from many boxes. So people, whose number is not small, collected in their accounts in the society fourteen thousand rupees, then they withdrew a part of it, the amount of one hundred and sixteen thousand rupees, during the same year. Likewise, the society recovered from previous debts; it borrowed from people twenty-five thousand rupees for a limited period, then lent it to those who needed it. And so people deposited their trusts, to the end of the matter. This is a good sign in reality. And a society is not a state, so it means immediately forty thousand rupees, which can be in the region of twenty to twenty-five thousand Syrian pounds.
The questioner: They saved the forbidden...
The Shaykh : So, good. If the profit and loss are going, there is no objection at all. Is there something?
Other than that?
The Shaykh : Yes, did I understand?
The questioner: Gaddafi is the President of the Republic of Libya.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: Some scholars issued a fatwa for him that he is allowed to take the interest so that the Jews do not take it...
The Shaykh : I think our answer is known from what came before, but in response to this statement: did they issue a fatwa permitting him to deposit money in banks and take the interest?
The questioner: No...
The Shaykh : Then be patient. I understood you, but I am clarifying this. Did they not issue a fatwa for depositing money in the bank, but rather tell him that since he has deposited the money in the bank, the interest becomes lawful for him? Is that what they told him? After they issued this fatwa, did he withdraw the money from the banks, or did he leave it?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, it is known, but the important point is these rich people who were afflicted by depositing their money in banks, and were issued a fatwa permitting them to benefit from the interest. These people repented to Allah, turned back to Him, and withdrew their money from the banks. And so that they would not leave the interest for those who benefit the Jews, as they claimed, they took the interest. But what did they do with the principal?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Is this lawful or forbidden?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, my brother. We said earlier, using the common Syrian proverb: "The one who does not want to see disturbing dreams does not sleep between the graves." That is, the one who does not want to be exposed to this calamity. Is it permissible for us to take the interest, or is it not permissible? He should withdraw the money from the bank because he is fighting Allah and His Messenger. So the one who is fighting Allah and the Messenger comes to ask: "Do you think this interest is lawful for me or not?" Your original act of depositing the money is forbidden for you, the most severe kind of prohibition, because it brings the curse. And we said earlier:
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the two witnesses
لَعَنَ الله آكل الربا ، وموكله ، وكاتبه ، وشاهديهBut if you repent, you may have your principal - [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged.
وَإِنْ تُبْتُمْ فَلَكُمْ رُءُوسُ أَمْوَالِكُمْ لَا تَظْلِمُونَ وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَyou may have your principal
فَلَكُمْ رُءُوسُ أَمْوَالِكُمْThe questioner: ...
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner: ...
The Shaykh : So, do we want to issue fatwas for people according to their wishes? We issue fatwas for them with what Allah has legislated, whether they stop or they do not stop. Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) said to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
upon you is only [the duty of] notification
إِنْ عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ(22) You are not over them a controller. (23) However, he who turns away and disbelieves - (24) Then Allah will punish him with the greatest punishment.
لَسْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِمُصَيْطِرٍ * إِلَّا مَنْ تَوَلَّى وَكَفَرَ * فَيُعَذِّبُهُ اللَّهُ الْعَذَابَ الْأَكْبَرَThe questioner: ...
The Shaykh : Until we hear about the method of dealing with him, so we can answer about him. And I read in a magazine that reaches me from India, called the Da'wah Magazine. And it is perhaps desirable in reality that we read to you some things from it. There, the Islamic Group listens to what their president, Professor Maududi, used to say, and then, later.
The student : ...
The Shaykh : No, it is not Abu al-Hasan al-Nadwi.
The student : It is Abu al-A'la.
The Shaykh : Abu al-A'la Maududi. Later, the current president is someone else, but he is still a man who has his virtue there. So they wrote here an article praising the interest of the Islamic bank that they themselves established.
The questioner: They established it.
The Shaykh : They themselves. You will hear a small amount, but the important thing, as the old Arabic proverb says, "The first of the rain is drops, then it pours down in abundance." It says: The news reports that the non-interest cooperative society belonging to the Islamic Group in Ahmedabad, in the state of... lent people during the year 1974-75, that is, Gregorian, a loan of two hundred and twenty-four thousand rupees and thirty-five paise. And by that, hundreds of people were saved from paying riba, not less than forty thousand rupees. That means they saved forty thousand rupees of riba that they did not pay, and no one received... And this money was collected from many boxes. So people, whose number is not small, collected in their accounts in the society fourteen thousand rupees, then they withdrew a part of it, the amount of one hundred and sixteen thousand rupees, during the same year. Likewise, the society recovered from previous debts; it borrowed from people twenty-five thousand rupees for a limited period, then lent it to those who needed it. And so people deposited their trusts, to the end of the matter. This is a good sign in reality. And a society is not a state, so it means immediately forty thousand rupees, which can be in the region of twenty to twenty-five thousand Syrian pounds.
The questioner: They saved the forbidden...
The Shaykh : So, good. If the profit and loss are going, there is no objection at all. Is there something?
Other than that?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.