How to dispose of usurious money? And is it possible to use it to treat a poor person?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner: O Shaykh, a continuation of the topic of usurious interest.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: We have Muslims in Europe who have turned to—praise be to Allah the Exalted—purifying their wealth of usury, but they have accumulated wealth from these usurious interests in Europe, and they ask us often about the Shari'ah ruling in this matter. I heard that you mentioned public utilities; what are the public utilities that you consider as such?
The Shaykh: Public utilities are those from which the general public benefits, not an individual person. In other words, this usurious money, which is not lawful and is not permissible—for example, it is not permissible to give some of it to a poor person for his personal benefit. Public utilities include building a hospital for the poor and the needy, building a bridge, bringing water to a place where there is no water, and so on; meaning, the general public benefits from it, not an individual person.
The questioner: A fund for treating the poor in some hospitals?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner: Does it go into a fund for treating the poor in some hospitals?
The Shaykh: No, that is private benefit.
The questioner: Private benefit.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: It must be for the general public.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: We have Muslims in Europe who have turned to—praise be to Allah the Exalted—purifying their wealth of usury, but they have accumulated wealth from these usurious interests in Europe, and they ask us often about the Shari'ah ruling in this matter. I heard that you mentioned public utilities; what are the public utilities that you consider as such?
The Shaykh: Public utilities are those from which the general public benefits, not an individual person. In other words, this usurious money, which is not lawful and is not permissible—for example, it is not permissible to give some of it to a poor person for his personal benefit. Public utilities include building a hospital for the poor and the needy, building a bridge, bringing water to a place where there is no water, and so on; meaning, the general public benefits from it, not an individual person.
The questioner: A fund for treating the poor in some hospitals?
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner: Does it go into a fund for treating the poor in some hospitals?
The Shaykh: No, that is private benefit.
The questioner: Private benefit.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner: It must be for the general public.
Source
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The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.