Is it permissible for one who has a shop and cannot find anyone to rent it from except a bank?
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The questioner : I don't know, O Shaykh. There is a person who says: "I consulted you regarding the bank, and you said that if no one else rents the shop except the bank, it is lawful." I don't know if this fatwa is correct or incorrect?
The Shaykh : By Allah, my brother, I advise you that whenever something is attributed to us or to other scholars that you disapprove of, understand it, deny it, and say to the one who said it: I demand the accuracy of your transmission, because much error and falsehood is transmitted from us and from others as well.
As for the question, I never said that. And I say: It is not permissible for a person to rent his shop or his house to a bank, even if it remains vacant for a hundred years, absolutely not. Because Allah said in His great Book:[Al-Ma'idah 5:2] And renting shops to banks, this is cooperation in sin and aggression. And if it is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan Ibn Majah 2277Hasan (Darussalam) Even though the witnesses and the writer have no interest except establishing riba, he cursed them all and said: So take from me now: It is not permissible to rent places to the bank, because it was established for riba. This is the correct view. It is true that it may have other permissible transactions, but it is originally founded for riba. And convey to the one who said this about me, say: "I asked so-and-so, and he said: This is not correct, and it is not permissible to rent houses or shops to these banks, even if they remain vacant for a hundred years."
The questioner : Well, O Shaykh, I don't know regarding the bank's money, that it is rent for the bank.
The Shaykh : The question is one.
The questioner : Which bank, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : The bank is known. Yes, everything you rent for a forbidden thing, you are a partner with its owner in the sin, and it is forbidden for you. Even renting the place to a barber who shaves the beard is forbidden. But if you rent it to a barber on the condition that he shaves heads, and then you see him shaving beards, then the sin is upon him. Because there is a difference between the one who rents the thing to disobey Allah in it, and the one who rents it and then disobeys Allah in it. Did you understand the difference between the one who rents the thing to disobey Allah in it and the one who rents it and then disobeys Allah in it? It is clear. For example, if a person rents a shop for riba, this is forbidden. If he rents it to sell cigarettes, and I know that he rented it to sell cigarettes in it, this is forbidden. But if he rents it for a permissible purpose and then sells cigarettes in it, or deals in riba in it, then nothing is upon me from it.
The questioner : If it is stipulated in the contract.
The Shaykh : Stipulated what?
The questioner : That he places a forbidden thing in it.
The Shaykh : Fine. Yes, he has the right to annul it if he stipulated that he rented the shop for barbering on the condition that no beard is shaved in it, and then he shaved, he has the right to annul it.
The Shaykh : By Allah, my brother, I advise you that whenever something is attributed to us or to other scholars that you disapprove of, understand it, deny it, and say to the one who said it: I demand the accuracy of your transmission, because much error and falsehood is transmitted from us and from others as well.
As for the question, I never said that. And I say: It is not permissible for a person to rent his shop or his house to a bank, even if it remains vacant for a hundred years, absolutely not. Because Allah said in His great Book:
And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.
وَتَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِthe Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the one who consumes usury, the one who pays it, those who witness it and the one who writes it down.
أنه لعن آكل الربا وموكله وشاهديه وكاتبهThey are all the same.
هم سواءThe questioner : Well, O Shaykh, I don't know regarding the bank's money, that it is rent for the bank.
The Shaykh : The question is one.
The questioner : Which bank, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : The bank is known. Yes, everything you rent for a forbidden thing, you are a partner with its owner in the sin, and it is forbidden for you. Even renting the place to a barber who shaves the beard is forbidden. But if you rent it to a barber on the condition that he shaves heads, and then you see him shaving beards, then the sin is upon him. Because there is a difference between the one who rents the thing to disobey Allah in it, and the one who rents it and then disobeys Allah in it. Did you understand the difference between the one who rents the thing to disobey Allah in it and the one who rents it and then disobeys Allah in it? It is clear. For example, if a person rents a shop for riba, this is forbidden. If he rents it to sell cigarettes, and I know that he rented it to sell cigarettes in it, this is forbidden. But if he rents it for a permissible purpose and then sells cigarettes in it, or deals in riba in it, then nothing is upon me from it.
The questioner : If it is stipulated in the contract.
The Shaykh : Stipulated what?
The questioner : That he places a forbidden thing in it.
The Shaykh : Fine. Yes, he has the right to annul it if he stipulated that he rented the shop for barbering on the condition that no beard is shaved in it, and then he shaved, he has the right to annul it.