Q292 :The interest we receive from the bank on our
deposit we distribute to the poor as charity. We are unable to act on
the suggestion that such interest could be used to provide public
services such as toilets, cemeteries, etc. The only way is to
distribute it to the poor. Your suggestion requires that many people
should share in its implementation by paying the interest they may
receive into a special account for the purpose of building public
services. Please advise.
A292 : I feel that a Muslim should not go to a bank
to open an interest earning account, with the intention of spending the
interest he receives in charity. To resort to such an arrangement is
bound to give him the false feeling of satisfaction that he is doing
his share in alleviating the effects of poverty on others. What he has
to understand is that interest, and all usury for that matter, is foul.
Allah accepts only what is good. With regard to money, that means what
is earned with one’s work and effort. It is true that individuals
cannot get involved in providing public services. The interest they
receive on their deposit is too small for that purpose. However, they
can pay that amount to a society which may be engaged in such work. One
could give it to the municipal authority to encourage it to provide
such services. I have also suggested that this interest may be given
to any Islamic relief organization which is working in the famine- or
disaster-stricken areas of the Muslim world. Muslim Aid of Britain and
the Islamic Relief Agency in Sudan are two such organizations. [Added:
or the Eidhee Trust in Pakistan.] I would hesitate before approving the
payment of interest directly by one who receives it to a poor person. I
am not keen on that at all. The whole situation is a false one. The
poor person feels very grateful to someone who is giving him something
which he does not own. That is absurd.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )