Al-Mawrid Queries

Questions and Answers on Islam

Bank Profit And Interest

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July 10, 2024

4 min read 4 min

Economic Issues

Question

My father worked abroad for some 28 years in Dubai Govt. He had four kids including me and he spent his money on our education and other necessities. In 2001 his job finished and he moved back to Pakistan. The gratuity he received plus some of the plots in Pakistan helped him buy a house and get his two daughters and two sons married. With no source of income initially he put his money in bank but withdrew it because of fear of interest and invested it in some car business where he was cheated badly! Somehow he managed to get some of his money back and thought to invest into something else but not some bank account on profit and loss basis. He then invested in property business and bought a plot which again proved to be a hard luck because after buying that plot all his money was stuck with that plot and he found out that again somebody had trapped him and some other party also claims to be the owner of that very same plot! And he again is stuck into another law suit.

For quiet a while now he was trying to approach some good scholar who could further advice him as to what he should do in such a scene, when he has a wife to take care of and a house to run. His wife, my mom, is sick since a long period of time, and her monthly medicines are quiet expensive too. The two sons he has are both doctors but still in completing education period and have very less pays (you know how they pay in Govt hospitals to trainees!) in which they can hardly afford their wives. So with no proper source of income and an age of 64 he cannot go for some labour job as well, he tried to do business with that money twice but both times he was being cheated, and with sons not able to support him as well what do you suggest sir? And besides that would it still be ḥarām for him to put his money in some bank on profit and loss basis? Because I being his daughter when see him and my mother suffer at this age and in such condition I ask him to put his money in some bank but he wouldn’t listen and says this is ḥarām, I never earned ḥarām all my life how could I do this now. But sir would it still be ḥarām when he has no other choice to return back to Dubai and get some small business started there? And so many cheaters ready to grab ones money sitting out in Pakistan? What are elderly people like him supposed to do? My question is of course mainly for my own father but there must be so many like him who returned back and lost all they had, including their health too.

Answer

Your question has three aspects:

social security aspect
business/economic aspect
religious aspect

I am sure you will appreciate that as a student of Islam I can only try to address the first aspect. For the latter, I advise you to seek guidance and comments from those who are experts in them.

From religious point of view, your good father is very right that gaining money through bank interest is ḥarām. Receiving interest is strictly forbidden in Islam. We read in the Qur’ān:

Those who devour interest will rise up on the Day of Judgment like the man whom Satan has driven to madness by his touch…. (Baqarah 2:275)

Given the gravity of this forbidden act, we should be very warned about it.

Having said this, we should also note that Islam gives huge value to human being’s dignity and security. Therefore rules can be temporary relaxed to maintain the dignity and security of people. If after due investigation and consultation with financial advisors your father arrives at the conclusion that not benefitting from interest based income results in being deprived from having (what is considered to be) a normal and healthy life, then he can use interest. Of course this should be seen as a temporary measure and one who is in this situation needs to keep praying for and looking for other means to come out of the situation.

This is because the allowance (with regard to ḥarām food) that God has given to us in the Qur’ān (Al-Baqarah 2:173) also applies in this condition. We should be aware that some times getting ourselves in extremely difficult situation can have negative effect on our religious spirit. In other words, religious restrictions and appropriate allowances from these restrictions are all serving the same objective.

Answered by: Farhad Shafti

Date: 2015-04-02

banks interest profit

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