Islam demolishes what came before it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Your Eminence! We have a brother in Madinah who came from America and recently embraced Islam. During his days of ignorance, he acquired a great deal of wealth through the trade of narcotics. He brought this large sum of wealth with him, built a magnificent library for himself, and married three women with it. Recently, he was told that it is not permissible for him to give this wealth in charity, because Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is Pure and accepts only that which is pure. He asks you what he should do with this wealth, and whether this statement is correct?
We say to this brother, whom Allah has blessed with Islam after he had acquired forbidden wealth: Rejoice; for this wealth is lawful for him, and he bears no sin in it, neither in keeping it with him, nor in what he has spent from it, nor in what he used to marry with;Because Allah the Exalted said in the Noble Book: [Al-Anfal: 38] meaning: everything that has passed, and "what" here is a form of generality; because it is a relative pronoun,Meaning: everything that preceded is forgiven for him, even if he had killed a forbidden soul or taken wealth, it is forgiven for him. But the wealth he usurped from its owner, he must return it to him. As for the wealth he acquired through mutual consent among people, even if it was forbidden, such as what he acquired through riba (usury or interest) or narcotics or otherwise, it is lawful for him,because of His saying, the Exalted: [Al-Anfal: 38] And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said to 'Amr ibn al-'As when he embraced Islam: (Indeed, Islam demolishes what came before it) demolishing it in a way that leaves no trace of it.
Many of the disbelievers embraced Islam after they had killed Muslims, and yet they were not held accountable for what they had done. So tell this brother that his wealth is lawful and there is no harm in it. Let him give charity from it, and let him marry a second woman if he has only one, and a third and fourth, and let him do with it what he wishes. As for what was said to him, it is not based on a principle.
We say to this brother, whom Allah has blessed with Islam after he had acquired forbidden wealth: Rejoice; for this wealth is lawful for him, and he bears no sin in it, neither in keeping it with him, nor in what he has spent from it, nor in what he used to marry with;Because Allah the Exalted said in the Noble Book:
Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them
قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ يَنْتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهُمْ مَا قَدْ سَلَفَSay to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them
قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ يَنْتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهُمْ مَا قَدْ سَلَفَMany of the disbelievers embraced Islam after they had killed Muslims, and yet they were not held accountable for what they had done. So tell this brother that his wealth is lawful and there is no harm in it. Let him give charity from it, and let him marry a second woman if he has only one, and a third and fourth, and let him do with it what he wishes. As for what was said to him, it is not based on a principle.