A man grew his wealth through forbidden means until he became rich and accustomed to a life of luxury, then he wanted to repent and turn to Allah the Exalted. What should he do?
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The questioner : Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
The questioner says, may Allah bless you, our Shaykh: A man’s wealth, trade, and real estate grew from forbidden money, then he wanted to repent and turn to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and seek Allah’s forgiveness. How should he deal with these massive properties and this large amount of money, and he and his family have become accustomed to it, our Shaykh.
The student: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : To a certain lifestyle.
The student : ... he took advantage of ... a group, and by Allah, these ... Fear Allah, everyone, and he has become accustomed to it.
The questioner : He became accustomed to a certain lifestyle of expenses for the children, universities, and so on.
The Shaykh : Say it plainly: luxury.
The questioner : Luxury, yes, our Shaykh, may Allah bless you. So how, I mean, what is the Islamic ruling regarding this man?
The Shaykh : The ruling is in the Qur'an.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is a matter that does not require a formal inquiry or a fatwa[Al-Baqarah 2:279]. Of course, this is regarding his personal situation. I know that behind the question is: what does he do with those properties and moneys?
The questioner : That is it.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that we see what some of the distinguished scholars of the present age hold, which is that money resulting from forbidden sources is not permissible for a specific person to benefit from; rather, it must be spent on public facilities. He must surely know that at some point he had in his hand one hundred dinars, one thousand dinars, five thousand, less or more; it does not matter, it is just an approximation and an example. Let us suppose, for instance, that he inherited it, regardless of whether the deceased’s earnings were forbidden or lawful. Since the money transferred to these heirs through a lawful path, this money became lawful for them. Let us suppose this scenario, and scenarios vary. Then he started working, so his wealth grew and his properties expanded, and so on. He returns to the original capital. It does not benefit him here for us to say that he lived in luxury and consider his life of entertainment, if that is the correct expression, as merely an effect of his dealing in forbidden matters. Forbidden matters are not treated with forbidden matters, so it is not considered that because he now lived in comfort, he must divest himself. The righteous predecessors, especially the first of them, the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him), who left their homes and their wealth in the path of migration to Allah and to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This is how sincere repentance is, and I do not find an exit except this, and Allah knows best.
The questioner : This includes ... every forbidden thing, I mean every forbidden thing.
The Shaykh : Every forbidden thing.
The questioner : Every forbidden thing.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
The questioner says, may Allah bless you, our Shaykh: A man’s wealth, trade, and real estate grew from forbidden money, then he wanted to repent and turn to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and seek Allah’s forgiveness. How should he deal with these massive properties and this large amount of money, and he and his family have become accustomed to it, our Shaykh.
The student: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : To a certain lifestyle.
The student : ... he took advantage of ... a group, and by Allah, these ... Fear Allah, everyone, and he has become accustomed to it.
The questioner : He became accustomed to a certain lifestyle of expenses for the children, universities, and so on.
The Shaykh : Say it plainly: luxury.
The questioner : Luxury, yes, our Shaykh, may Allah bless you. So how, I mean, what is the Islamic ruling regarding this man?
The Shaykh : The ruling is in the Qur'an.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : This is a matter that does not require a formal inquiry or a fatwa
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 : That is it.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that we see what some of the distinguished scholars of the present age hold, which is that money resulting from forbidden sources is not permissible for a specific person to benefit from; rather, it must be spent on public facilities. He must surely know that at some point he had in his hand one hundred dinars, one thousand dinars, five thousand, less or more; it does not matter, it is just an approximation and an example. Let us suppose, for instance, that he inherited it, regardless of whether the deceased’s earnings were forbidden or lawful. Since the money transferred to these heirs through a lawful path, this money became lawful for them. Let us suppose this scenario, and scenarios vary. Then he started working, so his wealth grew and his properties expanded, and so on. He returns to the original capital. It does not benefit him here for us to say that he lived in luxury and consider his life of entertainment, if that is the correct expression, as merely an effect of his dealing in forbidden matters. Forbidden matters are not treated with forbidden matters, so it is not considered that because he now lived in comfort, he must divest himself. The righteous predecessors, especially the first of them, the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him), who left their homes and their wealth in the path of migration to Allah and to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). This is how sincere repentance is, and I do not find an exit except this, and Allah knows best.
The questioner : This includes ... every forbidden thing, I mean every forbidden thing.
The Shaykh : Every forbidden thing.
The questioner : Every forbidden thing.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.