A man who owns a video store selling obscene tapes, then repented to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and earned a large amount of money from this sale; is it permissible to give this in charity?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A man owns a video store in which he sells obscene tapes. Then he repented, and praise be to Allah, and earned a large amount of money from this sale. Is it permissible to give this money in charity, or what should he do?
The Shaykh : Whoever acquires forbidden money, and Allah grants him repentance, and he spends it in charity, or in building a mosque, or in repairing a road, or in assisting a mujahid, then that is good. Indeed, that is good for him and good for others who benefit from this money. Because when a person gets rid of forbidden money by spending it in the causes of good, his conscience is cleared.
And sometimes people ask about a bank that built a mosque, saying: Is the prayer valid in this mosque? What is the answer? What is the answer?
The answer is that the prayer is valid, because this bank that built this mosque from its earnings may intend to get rid of the money it acquired from the forbidden. And if it did not intend that, then it is only forbidden because of its acquisition; it is only forbidden upon the one who acquired it. As for others to whom this earnings reaches through a permissible means, it is not forbidden for them. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted gifts from the Jews, although they eat illicit gains. And he bought food from a Jew for his family, and it is well known that the Jew eats illicit gains. And he accepted the invitation from the Jew and ate from his food. The rule now is: that what is forbidden because of its acquisition is forbidden upon the one who acquired it, and it is not forbidden upon the one to whom it transferred through a Sharia-compliant means. As for what is forbidden in itself, such as if a man steals another man's money and then brings the stolen goods to sell to us, here it is forbidden for us to buy it, because this is forbidden in itself, not because of its acquisition. Yes.
The Shaykh : Whoever acquires forbidden money, and Allah grants him repentance, and he spends it in charity, or in building a mosque, or in repairing a road, or in assisting a mujahid, then that is good. Indeed, that is good for him and good for others who benefit from this money. Because when a person gets rid of forbidden money by spending it in the causes of good, his conscience is cleared.
And sometimes people ask about a bank that built a mosque, saying: Is the prayer valid in this mosque? What is the answer? What is the answer?
The answer is that the prayer is valid, because this bank that built this mosque from its earnings may intend to get rid of the money it acquired from the forbidden. And if it did not intend that, then it is only forbidden because of its acquisition; it is only forbidden upon the one who acquired it. As for others to whom this earnings reaches through a permissible means, it is not forbidden for them. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted gifts from the Jews, although they eat illicit gains. And he bought food from a Jew for his family, and it is well known that the Jew eats illicit gains. And he accepted the invitation from the Jew and ate from his food. The rule now is: that what is forbidden because of its acquisition is forbidden upon the one who acquired it, and it is not forbidden upon the one to whom it transferred through a Sharia-compliant means. As for what is forbidden in itself, such as if a man steals another man's money and then brings the stolen goods to sell to us, here it is forbidden for us to buy it, because this is forbidden in itself, not because of its acquisition. Yes.