We are a group of teachers in one school who agreed to form a cooperative association of five thousand riyals
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The questioner : May Allah reward the honorableThe Shaykh : We are a group of teachers in one school who agreed to form a cooperative association of five thousand riyals. And we agreed on a specific arrangement with specific dates, and it is written for each of us when he will receive this amount. Knowing that each of us will take what he paid to his colleagues when his turn to receive comes, without any increase or decrease. However, some of the attendees objected to us and conveyed to you a fatwa ruling that this method of associations is not permissible, explaining this by saying: “Do not stipulate or specify the date of your turn to receive the amount, because in that there is the wind of riba—as our man says—rather, put a lottery among you by numbers, and each of you draws a paper, and his order is according to the number found. And thereby it becomes permissible and halal.” The question, O honorableThe Shaykh : What is the ruling on this method? And what is the correctness of the fatwa? And is zakah obligatory in it if it is correct?
The Shaykh : As for the fatwa, I do not know about it, although it is attributed to me, and this means that it is not correct and that it is a lie.
I see that this method is a sound method, meaning: that they agree to make it so that each person has five thousand riyals, or one thousand riyals, or less or more, that rotates among them, because in that there is cooperation and mutual support. Perhaps one of the teachers or one of the employees needs twenty thousand riyals, for example, in this month and cannot afford it. So his turn comes and he takes it as a loan. And this is not from the category of a loan that brings benefit, as some people imagine, because each of the lenders did not receive more than what he lent; he lent a thousand and a thousand was returned to him.
And as for the fact that each person knows that he will borrow if he lends, there is no harm in that. And this is from justice, that each of us, if he lends today, borrows tomorrow.
As for the order of starting, this returns to what the people gathered for this association see. They may see that it is better to arrange it by the letters of the alphabet. For example, Ibrahim comes before Ahmad, and Ali comes before Muhammad, and so on. And they may see that it is in the interest to start with the most needy, then the next most needy. And they may see that it is in the interest if a need arises for one of them who has not taken his share, to start with him. As if he needs a mahr or a fine for an accident or something else. The important thing is that this order of borrowing returns to the brothers themselves, so let them do in it what they wish. Yes.
The questioner : Zakah, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : He says: Is there zakah in it?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes. This debt has zakah in it, because it is a deferred debt by the choice of its owner. And a deferred debt by the choice of its owner has zakah in it. Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the fatwa, I do not know about it, although it is attributed to me, and this means that it is not correct and that it is a lie.
I see that this method is a sound method, meaning: that they agree to make it so that each person has five thousand riyals, or one thousand riyals, or less or more, that rotates among them, because in that there is cooperation and mutual support. Perhaps one of the teachers or one of the employees needs twenty thousand riyals, for example, in this month and cannot afford it. So his turn comes and he takes it as a loan. And this is not from the category of a loan that brings benefit, as some people imagine, because each of the lenders did not receive more than what he lent; he lent a thousand and a thousand was returned to him.
And as for the fact that each person knows that he will borrow if he lends, there is no harm in that. And this is from justice, that each of us, if he lends today, borrows tomorrow.
As for the order of starting, this returns to what the people gathered for this association see. They may see that it is better to arrange it by the letters of the alphabet. For example, Ibrahim comes before Ahmad, and Ali comes before Muhammad, and so on. And they may see that it is in the interest to start with the most needy, then the next most needy. And they may see that it is in the interest if a need arises for one of them who has not taken his share, to start with him. As if he needs a mahr or a fine for an accident or something else. The important thing is that this order of borrowing returns to the brothers themselves, so let them do in it what they wish. Yes.
The questioner : Zakah, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Yes?
The questioner : He says: Is there zakah in it?
The Shaykh : Yes, yes. This debt has zakah in it, because it is a deferred debt by the choice of its owner. And a deferred debt by the choice of its owner has zakah in it. Yes.