What is the ruling on taking riba (usury or interest) on a salary or wage from the bank?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. If you please, and without holding you accountable, my father passed away in the war. The government sent me money—I am Egyptian, if Allah wills—the government sent me money and I put it in the bank in my name as a small amount. They take a portion of my salary, meaning they deduct a small part and take the second part, which is deposited in the bank with this money. So the money has increased greatly at the current time. Naturally, I am in need of it. So is its current status riba (usury or interest) or what exactly?
The Shaykh : Meaning, is there a way to get rid of it from the bank?
The questioner : No, not currently, except after twenty-one years. This conversation was about two years ago.
The Shaykh : But.
The questioner : After twenty-one years... So I am currently in need of it, if Allah wills...
The Shaykh : Okay, listen, listen.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The amount you are entitled to, or the salary due, is it known to you, for example, for two months or annually?
The questioner : The amount was deposited as a small value currently, so they take, for example, I do not take the full amount, about, for example, one hundred and twenty dinars, which is my salary, so they take only ten and add the rest to the bank...
The Shaykh : The important thing is to discard the riba (usury or interest) from this money. The principal is lawful, as Allah said:[Al-Baqarah 2:279] and the excess over this money is riba (usury or interest), which is not permissible for you to benefit from in any way.
The questioner : And I use it in any place?
The Shaykh : Ah, well done. You use it in public utilities. The meaning of public utilities is that no specific person benefits from this riba (usury or interest) money for himself, even if he is poor. Public utilities are, for example: a poor neighborhood in need of a water source; the water is drawn from this haram (forbidden) money, or a road, for example, that needs paving, or a bridge over a canal, similar to that. This is from public utilities.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The Shaykh : Meaning, is there a way to get rid of it from the bank?
The questioner : No, not currently, except after twenty-one years. This conversation was about two years ago.
The Shaykh : But.
The questioner : After twenty-one years... So I am currently in need of it, if Allah wills...
The Shaykh : Okay, listen, listen.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : The amount you are entitled to, or the salary due, is it known to you, for example, for two months or annually?
The questioner : The amount was deposited as a small value currently, so they take, for example, I do not take the full amount, about, for example, one hundred and twenty dinars, which is my salary, so they take only ten and add the rest to the bank...
The Shaykh : The important thing is to discard the riba (usury or interest) from this money. The principal is lawful, as Allah said:
But if you repent, you may have your principal - [thus] you do no wrong, nor are you wronged.
وَإِنْ تُبْتُمْ فَلَكُمْ رُءُوسُ أَمْوَالِكُمْ لَا تَظْلِمُونَ وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَThe questioner : And I use it in any place?
The Shaykh : Ah, well done. You use it in public utilities. The meaning of public utilities is that no specific person benefits from this riba (usury or interest) money for himself, even if he is poor. Public utilities are, for example: a poor neighborhood in need of a water source; the water is drawn from this haram (forbidden) money, or a road, for example, that needs paving, or a bridge over a canal, similar to that. This is from public utilities.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.