Is it permissible to give charity with usurious money and to build mosques with it?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. He says:The questioner : Is it permissible to give charity with usurious money to the poor and the needy, and to build mosques with it in Europe, for example, or in America?
The Shaykh : In any case, first of all, usurious money is not permissible to take in the first place, no matter what the bank is, because Allah the Exalted said in His Book:[Al-Baqarah 2:279] before it [Al-Baqarah 2:278-279] So Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, prohibited taking usury and said: [Al-Baqarah 2:279] And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) announced in the Farewell Pilgrimage Sunan al-Bayhaqi 16:841 because it was his uncle, so the one with peace and blessings be upon him would execute the rulings against his relatives before he executed them against the people. The important thing is that we say: do not take usury, even if you take it to give it in charity, it is not permissible, because it is a sin, and a sin is not permissible for a person to commit. So this is the obligatory thing: a person should leave usury. But if it is assumed that it came to him previously and he wants to repent from it, let him give it out as charity, or build a mosque, or repair a road, to get rid of it. Do not draw near to Allah with it, because if he draws near with it, it will not be accepted from him, and his conscience will not be cleared by it. But if he gives it out to get rid of it, there is no harm in giving it out for building a mosque, for repairing a road, for marrying off a person in financial difficulty, or as charity to a poor person. And the poor person may accept that, and there is no blame on him.
The questioner : And what they take, O honorable Shaykh, is on the pretext that they do not leave it in the bank so that they can benefit from it.
The Shaykh : In the first place, this usury did not come to them as an earning of their money. Perhaps you give the bank your money and it buys something with it and loses it. This is not a growth of your money such that we would say it is yours. In the first place, you did not possess it legally or in reality, because you do not know whether this increase was a growth of your property or not.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A female questioner says, O honorable Shaykh, what is the limit that...
The Shaykh : ... she says, she says.
The questioner : She says, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : What is the limit that is permissible...
The Shaykh : Say the word that comes after it.
The questioner : O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes, correct.
The questioner : A female questioner says
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : What is the limit that is permissible...
The Shaykh : Say, say the word, O Shaykh. A female questioner says.
The questioner : A female questioner says
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : What is the limit that...
The Shaykh : You said the word.
The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes, O honorable Shaykh, heh heh.
The Shaykh : In any case, first of all, usurious money is not permissible to take in the first place, no matter what the bank is, because Allah the Exalted said in His Book:
But if you repent, you may have your principal
فإن تبتم فلكم رؤوس أموالكم(278) O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of interest, if you should be believers. (279) And if you do not, then be informed of a war [against you] from Allah and His Messenger. But if you repent, you may have your principal
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله وذروا ما بقي من الربا إن كنتم مؤمنين فإن لم تفعلوا فأذنوا بحرب من الله ورسوله إن تبتم فلكم رؤوس أموالكمif you repent, you may have your principal
إن تبتم فلكم رؤوس أموالكمThat the usury of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance is waived.
أن ربا الجاهلية موضوعAnd the first usury I waived was the usury of al-Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib.
وأول ربا أضعه ربا العباس بن عبد لمطلبThe questioner : And what they take, O honorable Shaykh, is on the pretext that they do not leave it in the bank so that they can benefit from it.
The Shaykh : In the first place, this usury did not come to them as an earning of their money. Perhaps you give the bank your money and it buys something with it and loses it. This is not a growth of your money such that we would say it is yours. In the first place, you did not possess it legally or in reality, because you do not know whether this increase was a growth of your property or not.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good. A female questioner says, O honorable Shaykh, what is the limit that...
The Shaykh : ... she says, she says.
The questioner : She says, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : What is the limit that is permissible...
The Shaykh : Say the word that comes after it.
The questioner : O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes, correct.
The questioner : A female questioner says
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : What is the limit that is permissible...
The Shaykh : Say, say the word, O Shaykh. A female questioner says.
The questioner : A female questioner says
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : What is the limit that...
The Shaykh : You said the word.
The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Yes, O honorable Shaykh, heh heh.