Is it permissible to build an Islamic work center with usury money, or to buy cars for it?

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, who is this?

The questioner : ... I am speaking to you from Hungary.

The Shaykh : Welcome.

The questioner : May Allah reward you, how are you?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.

The questioner : We have some questions, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : As you know, my brother Ra'id spoke with you ... last week.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : That there is a desire to buy a mosque or an Islamic work center here, where some rituals are performed and some activities are held. One of the brothers who spends in the cause of Allah—(Blessed and Exalted is He)—means he knew that it is forbidden to place an amount in the bank, that it is forbidden, and that the usurious income he receives is not permissible to use. So he wanted to donate this money to Islamic work. How do we spend it? How do we disburse this money?

The Shaykh : I don't understand, my brother, what money?

The questioner : He took a usurious amount, usury money, which he took from the bank, perhaps, or from some of the resources of the company he works for. He wants to donate this to Allah—(Blessed and Exalted is He)—from this money and spend it in the cause of Allah, without expecting any reward in return for it.

The Shaykh : How did he take it?

The questioner : It is usury money, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : How did he take it?

The questioner : Perhaps, I do not know his method, but perhaps he had an amount in the bank, and this was the surplus, and this was the usurious amount he received from the bank.

The Shaykh : We said he should spend it on public utilities.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : And it is not a public utility to establish an Islamic center with forbidden money.

The questioner : Yes, yes, Allah is the Most Rich, that one should draw near to Him with what is forbidden. Yes.

The Shaykh : So now, you study the matter and see what public utilities there are that Muslims benefit from as a group, not as individuals or a few individuals.

The questioner : Yes, yes, now we work with our Bosnian brothers who are inside Hungary. We visit them, we make visits to them, we advise them in Allah the Exalted, we teach them matters of the religion, and we distribute to them some food and some clothes. And we always rent cars, meaning buses, for this purpose. Is it permissible for us to use this amount to employ cars, to buy, for example, a large bus to help us in this work?

The Shaykh : No, no, it is not permissible.

The questioner : It is not permissible. So I do not understand anything about the matter.