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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Ruling on taking interest-based profits and spending them on charitable causes

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Question:
What is the ruling on taking profits from interest-based banks and spending them on charitable causes?

Answer:
It is not permissible for a Muslim to agree with banks, or with others, on interest; because it is riba (usury or interest). The one who deposits money with them deposits it on the condition that he has no profit from it, but rather for its safekeeping with the depositary, or so that the depositary may dispose of it, and it is considered a loan with him. Then... from the current account he takes what he needs, and he does not take any profit for himself. As for agreeing with them on profits, it is not permissible, even if he says that he will spend it on charitable causes or charitable projects; this is not permissible for him.
But if it happens that he was ignorant of this matter and he received it, and he did not know, and he thought that it was permissible; then he does not return it to the bank, nor does he return it to the bank, but it is spent on the poor, the needy, and the like of repairing roads, and the like of repairing projects that benefit the Muslims... from which people drink, or roads that people benefit from, such as the dowry of a prostitute, and such as the fee of the fortune-teller, and such as the taxes that the state took, then Allah guided it and it left them to be spent on the charitable causes that benefit the Muslims, and such as lost money whose owner has gone and is not known, and the like of that is not returned to its owners.
And likewise, the one to whom the fortune-teller gives money to inform him of some hidden matters, it is not permissible for him to eat it, nor to return it to its owner, but it is spent on the causes of good, such as helping the poor, the destitute, and the like of that. And like this is the dowry of the prostitute; what she is given as a dowry for the sake of zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) is forbidden for her—we seek refuge in Allah—but she does not return it to its owner when she has taken it; she does not return it, but it is spent in another direction, such as helping the poor. And it is not announced that it is such and such, so it is permissible for the poor, and the like of him; because it is lost money, money that has no owner, but the one who took it took it through a forbidden means, so he does not use it. And if he spends it on a poor person and a destitute person, it is permissible for him; because it is like the lost money that is spent in a charitable direction that benefits from it.
Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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