A man in charge of distributing charity funds is rumored to drink intoxicants; should the Committee for Promoting Virtue and Forbidding Vice spy on him to clarify his status and remove him from charitable work?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. A man is in charge of distributing charity funds, and it has become known among the people that he drinks intoxicants. Is it permissible for the members of the Committee for Promoting Virtue and Forbidding Vice to follow him and spy on him in order to clarify his status and remove him from charitable work?
The Shaykh : I do not see spying on someone whose outward appearance is one of righteousness. However, one should be careful regarding the charity; do not entrust it to him, especially if it is known that he does not distribute it in its proper channels. A drinker of intoxicants is not just in his religion, though he may be just in his dealings. As for his religion, he is not just. This is the ruling in itself. But I see that it is obligatory for such a man, who is in charge of charity and may have been entrusted with it only because of his outward righteousness, that we contact him after we are certain that he drinks intoxicants. We should advise him and say to him: Either you comply and repent to Allah, or we will take this task away from you. Yes.
The questioner : And if his matter becomes well-known.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : I say: If his matter becomes well-known.
The Shaykh : And being well-known is a relative matter, may Allah reward you. A matter may become well-known as bad among a group of people because, for example, they have great jealousy in their hearts, so they act on the accusation and his matter becomes well-known, yet it may not be true. But in any case, verification is necessary.
The Shaykh : I do not see spying on someone whose outward appearance is one of righteousness. However, one should be careful regarding the charity; do not entrust it to him, especially if it is known that he does not distribute it in its proper channels. A drinker of intoxicants is not just in his religion, though he may be just in his dealings. As for his religion, he is not just. This is the ruling in itself. But I see that it is obligatory for such a man, who is in charge of charity and may have been entrusted with it only because of his outward righteousness, that we contact him after we are certain that he drinks intoxicants. We should advise him and say to him: Either you comply and repent to Allah, or we will take this task away from you. Yes.
The questioner : And if his matter becomes well-known.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : I say: If his matter becomes well-known.
The Shaykh : And being well-known is a relative matter, may Allah reward you. A matter may become well-known as bad among a group of people because, for example, they have great jealousy in their hearts, so they act on the accusation and his matter becomes well-known, yet it may not be true. But in any case, verification is necessary.