What is your opinion on a fatwa issued by one of the Shaykhs permitting the payment of interest-based money to the mujahideen for their needs, and stating that this is better than placing this money in public places?
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The questioner: My Shaykh, regarding the question of our brother Abu 'Umar, he omitted some words from his question. If one of the scholars there issued a fatwa permitting the taking of this interest-based money at a time when the mujahideen in another country need this money, he said this would be good and praised it, and many students of knowledge there praised it. He carried this question and conveyed it to me, and he wanted to see whether the Shaykh’s fatwa is that the mujahideen need this money more than placing this money in public places, at a time when many Muslim countries have neglected to provide them with weapons and ...
The Shaykh: If you reflect on what you said, you will find that there is an error in your words, but the intended meaning is clear. You asked if they need it. I tell you, they need it. But you want to ask if it is permissible for them to take this money? Based on what I heard just now, and what I always and forever repeat, forbidden money never benefits the Muslims, and it does not become a means for jihad in the path of Allah. Then where is the jihad, my brothers? We deceive ourselves if the Islamic states do not cooperate and declare jihad rightfully in the path of Allah, for then there is no jihad. We see the jihad that takes place in this land and that land, what is the outcome? This Afghan jihad, what was its result? How much did we provide them with money, some of it forbidden and some of it lawful, and so on, and the outcome for the military regime was "stay in your place." Yes, perhaps some evil is less than some, but what they sought from the jihad was establishing the Muslim state. Far from it, far from it. Why? Because the Muslims, as I always and forever say, have not established modern wisdom. Until the Islamic callers - may Allah have mercy on him - said: "Establish the state of Islam in your hearts, and it will be established for you on your land." These Muslims who are fighting have not established the state of Islam, meaning the creed of Islam and the rulings of Islam, in their souls, so that they can establish it on their land. Therefore, we will be under the rain, and we will become under the gutter; we will be in a problem, falling into a greater problem. And I do not know, by Allah, is this a fatwa that a scholar says while he is truly a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah, and that the Book and the Sunnah do not say "the end justifies the means"? The one who says that this money is taken, Allahu Akbar. I will tell you what the result would be if, hypothetically, the scholars of the Muslims agreed on this fatwa. There is a wisdom I read in some of the Gospels, and perhaps it is one of the sayings spoken by 'Isa - peace be upon him - because not everything in the Gospel is distorted. It says that 'Isa - peace be upon him - was one day admonishing the disciples, reminding them that false prophets would come, and that a prophet of the end of time, Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah, would come. They asked him how they would know the truthful prophet from the false prophet? He said: "By their fruits you will know them." "By their fruits you will know them." Meaning, when a man claims prophethood, my brother, if he is truthful, you will see his fruits ripe. The greatest example is our Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - how he brought the Arabs out of darkness into light, from shirk to tawhid, and so on. So by their fruits you will know them. I truly find this wisdom beneficial to me when I find two statements on one issue, when the known methods of preference among scholars are blocked, I look at the fruit of this statement and the fruit of the other statement, and I prefer one statement over the other by looking at the fruit of one over the other. So here we say, if, God forbid, the scholars of the Muslims who are known today on the Islamic land for knowledge, righteousness, and piety agreed, God forbid, on such a fatwa, you see this fatwa encourages depositing money that bears these fruits of interest, or does it uproot people from continuing? What will be the effects?
The questioner: It encourages.
The Shaykh: It encourages how? A person might say, "So we spend this interest in the path of jihad, in the path of Allah." This means, O Muslims, continue to deposit your money in the banks, because you will invest what you call interest in the path of jihad, in the path of Allah. Allahu Akbar. The Messenger preached one day and said:, and then we claim we want to fight in the path of Allah with forbidden money, which leads to or results in continuing in the disobedience of Allah, which leads to continuing in fighting Allah and His Messenger with riba. This is jihad? Where is it?
The questioner: My Shaykh, they say.
The Shaykh: Where are you going?
The questioner: Meaning, how does one feed his forbidden money to himself, which he has forbidden for himself, and feed it to his brother?Sahih al-Bukhari 13.
The Shaykh: The Messenger of Allah spoke the truth.
The questioner: There is a question, actually an inquiry about ... .
The Shaykh: If you reflect on what you said, you will find that there is an error in your words, but the intended meaning is clear. You asked if they need it. I tell you, they need it. But you want to ask if it is permissible for them to take this money? Based on what I heard just now, and what I always and forever repeat, forbidden money never benefits the Muslims, and it does not become a means for jihad in the path of Allah. Then where is the jihad, my brothers? We deceive ourselves if the Islamic states do not cooperate and declare jihad rightfully in the path of Allah, for then there is no jihad. We see the jihad that takes place in this land and that land, what is the outcome? This Afghan jihad, what was its result? How much did we provide them with money, some of it forbidden and some of it lawful, and so on, and the outcome for the military regime was "stay in your place." Yes, perhaps some evil is less than some, but what they sought from the jihad was establishing the Muslim state. Far from it, far from it. Why? Because the Muslims, as I always and forever say, have not established modern wisdom. Until the Islamic callers - may Allah have mercy on him - said: "Establish the state of Islam in your hearts, and it will be established for you on your land." These Muslims who are fighting have not established the state of Islam, meaning the creed of Islam and the rulings of Islam, in their souls, so that they can establish it on their land. Therefore, we will be under the rain, and we will become under the gutter; we will be in a problem, falling into a greater problem. And I do not know, by Allah, is this a fatwa that a scholar says while he is truly a scholar of the Book and the Sunnah, and that the Book and the Sunnah do not say "the end justifies the means"? The one who says that this money is taken, Allahu Akbar. I will tell you what the result would be if, hypothetically, the scholars of the Muslims agreed on this fatwa. There is a wisdom I read in some of the Gospels, and perhaps it is one of the sayings spoken by 'Isa - peace be upon him - because not everything in the Gospel is distorted. It says that 'Isa - peace be upon him - was one day admonishing the disciples, reminding them that false prophets would come, and that a prophet of the end of time, Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah, would come. They asked him how they would know the truthful prophet from the false prophet? He said: "By their fruits you will know them." "By their fruits you will know them." Meaning, when a man claims prophethood, my brother, if he is truthful, you will see his fruits ripe. The greatest example is our Prophet - peace and blessings be upon him - how he brought the Arabs out of darkness into light, from shirk to tawhid, and so on. So by their fruits you will know them. I truly find this wisdom beneficial to me when I find two statements on one issue, when the known methods of preference among scholars are blocked, I look at the fruit of this statement and the fruit of the other statement, and I prefer one statement over the other by looking at the fruit of one over the other. So here we say, if, God forbid, the scholars of the Muslims who are known today on the Islamic land for knowledge, righteousness, and piety agreed, God forbid, on such a fatwa, you see this fatwa encourages depositing money that bears these fruits of interest, or does it uproot people from continuing? What will be the effects?
The questioner: It encourages.
The Shaykh: It encourages how? A person might say, "So we spend this interest in the path of jihad, in the path of Allah." This means, O Muslims, continue to deposit your money in the banks, because you will invest what you call interest in the path of jihad, in the path of Allah. Allahu Akbar. The Messenger preached one day and said:
O people, fear Allah. No soul will die until it has completed its provision and its term; so be beautiful in your seeking; for what is with Allah is not attained through the forbidden.
يا أيها الناس ، اتقوا الله إن نفسًا لن تموت حتى تستكمل رزقها وأجلها ؛ فأجملوا في الطلب ؛ فإن ما عند الله لا ينال بالحرامThe questioner: My Shaykh, they say.
The Shaykh: Where are you going?
The questioner: Meaning, how does one feed his forbidden money to himself, which he has forbidden for himself, and feed it to his brother?
None of you will have faith till he wishes for his (Muslim) brother what he likes for himself.
لا يؤمن أحكم حتى يحبَّ لأخيه ما يحبُّ لنفسهThe Shaykh: The Messenger of Allah spoke the truth.
The questioner: There is a question, actually an inquiry about ... .
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.