How to get rid of interest-based profits?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : How are you, my brother?
The Shaykh : I am well, and praise be to Allah.
The questioner : I am calling you from Canada, Abu Mu'adh, who met with you three or four days ago.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed, did you arrive there?
The questioner : We arrived, my dear brother.
The Shaykh: Praise be to Allah for your safety.
The questioner : May Allah keep you safe and bless you. The people here send you their greetings very often.
The Shaykh : And upon you and them be peace, and the mercy and blessings of Allah.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, my dear brother. I have two questions, approximately?
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A brother, some time ago, wanted to sell a specific property, and this matter took place in France. Naturally, the government imposes on him that he deposit ten percent of the property's value in the bank. They impose this so that if taxes are levied on him by the government, the government can collect these taxes from the amount in the bank.
The Shaykh : And if he does not do so?
The questioner : The sale is not completed, and the government does not accept it.
The Shaykh : Yes, continue.
The questioner : When the government places this money, it places it in the bank with interest. So, naturally, the procedures are carried out, and the procedures may take one, two, or three years until the case with the government is concluded. The case was concluded, and it took approximately two to three years. Now that the case is finished, naturally, interest from the bank came out to him, amounting to approximately thirty to forty thousand dollars.
The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.
The questioner : So what does he do with this money? If I say he should burn it, he will burn it. Should he give it in charity? Should he send it as he sent the zakah money, or what does he do?
The Shaykh : I congratulate this person on this jihad first, and I congratulate him on his question second.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And the answer is that he does not burn these dollars, nor does he give them in charity, nor does he place them in zakah funds. Rather, he spends them on what is known among scholars as public utilities. Public utilities are any benefit or any improvement that the owner of this money undertakes, from which the general Muslim community benefits, and not a single individual.
The questioner : The center that you are running, is it permissible to use it for that?
The Shaykh : No. The center that he is running is an Islamic center, and its funds should be pure and clean. Rather, public utilities are, for example, a hospital where Muslim patients are treated for free, or, for example, a road that needs paving, so it is paved, or a barren place that needs water, so water is brought to it, from which all people, animals, and the like benefit. These are examples of public utilities.
The questioner : What if it is a school that teaches Muslim students?
The Shaykh : No, no. I hope he does not dabble with this money in noble matters.
Abu Mu'adh: May Allah reward you with good. This is a good thing, my dear brother.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : How are you, my brother?
The Shaykh : I am well, and praise be to Allah.
The questioner : I am calling you from Canada, Abu Mu'adh, who met with you three or four days ago.
The Shaykh : What Allah willed, did you arrive there?
The questioner : We arrived, my dear brother.
The Shaykh: Praise be to Allah for your safety.
The questioner : May Allah keep you safe and bless you. The people here send you their greetings very often.
The Shaykh : And upon you and them be peace, and the mercy and blessings of Allah.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, my dear brother. I have two questions, approximately?
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A brother, some time ago, wanted to sell a specific property, and this matter took place in France. Naturally, the government imposes on him that he deposit ten percent of the property's value in the bank. They impose this so that if taxes are levied on him by the government, the government can collect these taxes from the amount in the bank.
The Shaykh : And if he does not do so?
The questioner : The sale is not completed, and the government does not accept it.
The Shaykh : Yes, continue.
The questioner : When the government places this money, it places it in the bank with interest. So, naturally, the procedures are carried out, and the procedures may take one, two, or three years until the case with the government is concluded. The case was concluded, and it took approximately two to three years. Now that the case is finished, naturally, interest from the bank came out to him, amounting to approximately thirty to forty thousand dollars.
The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.
The questioner : So what does he do with this money? If I say he should burn it, he will burn it. Should he give it in charity? Should he send it as he sent the zakah money, or what does he do?
The Shaykh : I congratulate this person on this jihad first, and I congratulate him on his question second.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And the answer is that he does not burn these dollars, nor does he give them in charity, nor does he place them in zakah funds. Rather, he spends them on what is known among scholars as public utilities. Public utilities are any benefit or any improvement that the owner of this money undertakes, from which the general Muslim community benefits, and not a single individual.
The questioner : The center that you are running, is it permissible to use it for that?
The Shaykh : No. The center that he is running is an Islamic center, and its funds should be pure and clean. Rather, public utilities are, for example, a hospital where Muslim patients are treated for free, or, for example, a road that needs paving, so it is paved, or a barren place that needs water, so water is brought to it, from which all people, animals, and the like benefit. These are examples of public utilities.
The questioner : What if it is a school that teaches Muslim students?
The Shaykh : No, no. I hope he does not dabble with this money in noble matters.
Abu Mu'adh: May Allah reward you with good. This is a good thing, my dear brother.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.