The ruling on the salary of one who works in banks and the ruling on his prayer and fasting
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Question: A Muslim employee works in banks that deal in riba (usury or interest), and he receives a monthly salary. Does this salary he receives contain any income from riba? Is it forbidden for him to consume it? And since this employee writes in the bank, are his prayer and fasting permissible?
Answer: His prayer is valid, and so is his fasting. As for the ruling on his salary, a fatwa has been issued by the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta. This is its text:
Most transactions in current banking institutions include riba (usury or interest), which is forbidden by the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Ummah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that whoever assists the consumer of riba and its guarantor by writing for him or testifying against him, or the like, is a partner to the consumer and the guarantor in the curse and expulsion from the mercy of Allah. Thus, in Sahih Muslim and others, from the hadith of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) :Sahih Muslim 1598 Narrated by Muslim.
As for the salaries you have received, they are lawful for you if you were ignorant of the legal ruling; due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:275] Allah destroys riba and increases alms, and Allah does not love every persistent sinner [Surat al-Baqarah: 275-276].
But if you knew that this work is not permissible for you, you must spend the equivalent of the salaries you received in charitable projects and in supporting the poor, along with repentance to Allah the Exalted. And whoever repents to Allah with sincere repentance, Allah accepts his repentance and forgives his evil deeds, as He the Exalted said: [Surat al-Tahrim: 8]. The verse, and He the Exalted said: [Surat al-Nur: 31].
Answer: His prayer is valid, and so is his fasting. As for the ruling on his salary, a fatwa has been issued by the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta. This is its text:
Most transactions in current banking institutions include riba (usury or interest), which is forbidden by the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus of the Ummah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that whoever assists the consumer of riba and its guarantor by writing for him or testifying against him, or the like, is a partner to the consumer and the guarantor in the curse and expulsion from the mercy of Allah. Thus, in Sahih Muslim and others, from the hadith of Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) :
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) cursed the accepter of interest and its payer, and one who records it, and the two witnesses, and he said: They are all equal.
لعن رسول الله ﷺ آكل الربا، وموكله، وكاتبه، وشاهديه، وقال: هم سواءAs for the salaries you have received, they are lawful for you if you were ignorant of the legal ruling; due to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. So whoever has received an admonition from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah. But whoever returns to [dealing in interest or usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein.
وَأَحَلَّ اللّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا فَمَن جَاءهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ فَانتَهَىَ فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللّهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ But if you knew that this work is not permissible for you, you must spend the equivalent of the salaries you received in charitable projects and in supporting the poor, along with repentance to Allah the Exalted. And whoever repents to Allah with sincere repentance, Allah accepts his repentance and forgives his evil deeds, as He the Exalted said:
O you who have believed, repent to Allah with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَى رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُAnd turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
وَتُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.