The obligation to abandon money that has been established to be from riba
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Question: From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz, to the honorable brother / S. G. G, may Allah preserve him
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
I refer to your inquiry, registered with the General Secretariat of the Committee of Senior Scholars under number: 6009, dated 28/8/1409 AH, which stated:
We inform your Eminence that in the year 1406 AH, His Excellency the Minister of Commerce issued a decision to establish (the Saudi Company for Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Supplies). The company announced at that time the commencement of design work and project studies, and began constructing the buildings, which were decided to be completed by the end of the current year, 1409 AH. This means that the process of manufacturing medicines has not yet begun. Nevertheless, the company announced to the shareholders that it intends to distribute profits—which amounted to more than thirty-three million (Saudi Riyals)—as these profits resulted from investing the shareholders' funds in banks.
According to what I hear from people, such investment in banks is carried out by most joint-stock companies. Since I am one of the shareholders in this company, and I own several shares in several agricultural and industrial companies, this matter concerns me, and concerns many people who are keen on earning a halal livelihood.
Based on your desire to know the truth after the telephone call to your Eminence, and your encouragement for me to write to you about the subject, I am fulfilling your desire. May Allah reward you for Islam and the Muslims with the best reward. To provide further clarification, I am attaching to this letter a copy of the report of the aforementioned company, along with a copy of the newspaper (Al-Jazirah) which published the details of the aforementioned annual report of the company.
In conclusion: I kindly request that you inform me of the Shari'ah ruling on this matter, and what you advise me to do? Should I continue dealing with this company and others, or not?
Answer: I inform you that the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' has studied your inquiry, and what was included in your letter and its attachments, and it has seen that it is obligatory for you to abandon what has been established to you as having been acquired through riba. There is no harm in receiving it and spending it in some acts of righteousness; such as comforting the poor, assisting the mujahideen, and the like; in order to get rid of it and to clear one's conscience.
May Allah guide everyone to what brings Him pleasure, and assist you in all good.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The General President of the Departments of Research
Scientific, Ifta, Da'wah, and Guidance
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
I refer to your inquiry, registered with the General Secretariat of the Committee of Senior Scholars under number: 6009, dated 28/8/1409 AH, which stated:
We inform your Eminence that in the year 1406 AH, His Excellency the Minister of Commerce issued a decision to establish (the Saudi Company for Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Supplies). The company announced at that time the commencement of design work and project studies, and began constructing the buildings, which were decided to be completed by the end of the current year, 1409 AH. This means that the process of manufacturing medicines has not yet begun. Nevertheless, the company announced to the shareholders that it intends to distribute profits—which amounted to more than thirty-three million (Saudi Riyals)—as these profits resulted from investing the shareholders' funds in banks.
According to what I hear from people, such investment in banks is carried out by most joint-stock companies. Since I am one of the shareholders in this company, and I own several shares in several agricultural and industrial companies, this matter concerns me, and concerns many people who are keen on earning a halal livelihood.
Based on your desire to know the truth after the telephone call to your Eminence, and your encouragement for me to write to you about the subject, I am fulfilling your desire. May Allah reward you for Islam and the Muslims with the best reward. To provide further clarification, I am attaching to this letter a copy of the report of the aforementioned company, along with a copy of the newspaper (Al-Jazirah) which published the details of the aforementioned annual report of the company.
In conclusion: I kindly request that you inform me of the Shari'ah ruling on this matter, and what you advise me to do? Should I continue dealing with this company and others, or not?
Answer: I inform you that the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' has studied your inquiry, and what was included in your letter and its attachments, and it has seen that it is obligatory for you to abandon what has been established to you as having been acquired through riba. There is no harm in receiving it and spending it in some acts of righteousness; such as comforting the poor, assisting the mujahideen, and the like; in order to get rid of it and to clear one's conscience.
May Allah guide everyone to what brings Him pleasure, and assist you in all good.
And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The General President of the Departments of Research
Scientific, Ifta, Da'wah, and Guidance
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.