Mu` meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah`s Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

salaam,
i appreciate your emails carrying questions and answers and by grace of Allah learn alot from them. kindly tell me your website address and reply me the following question.

Q NO 1: is it approprite to do job at bank?even u are not aware whether bank offers instrest oriented packages to their customers?

QNO 2: what kind of savings in banks are not haram  or intrest oriented?

Q NO 3: what do u say about keeping money in bank in current accounts?unlikely fix accounts it has no fix intrest ratios?

QNO  4: if one has enough money and is not intrested in any kind of investment or  business but wants to increase his/her money bit by bit without jeopardizing it ,so what should he/she do?

QNO 5: i heard someone saying that at time death,human being whether muslim or non muslim...bear unbearable pain,but according to their levels of   faith?is that right?how does one feel when his spirit is extracted from body?

QNO6 : Is that right that when a muslim is martryed in jihaad for cause of Allah,at time of death he just feels like an ant has biten him?he just get away with severe pain of death?

JAZAQA-ALLAH

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Answer:

Martyr Pain stupor at Death

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Q-1: kindly tell me your website address and reply me the following question.

May Allah reward you with the best of this world and the hereafter for making the effort to learn about this deen of Truth. Our website address is: www.dawoodibohrahelpline.com

Q-2: is it approprite to do job at bank? even u are not aware whether bank offers instrest oriented packages to their customers?

The base business of any conventional bank is based or derived from interest; and Allah and His Messenger (saws) have strictly forbidden the believers to deal in interest.

Allah says further in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 278:

O Believers!, fear Allah and give up that ‘riba’ which is still due to you, if you are true believers. But if you do not do so, then you are warned of the declaration of war against you by Allah and His Messenger!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisa verse 161:

That they took ‘riba’, although they were forbidden. And that they devoured men’s substance wrongfully. We have prepared for those among them who reject faith a grievous punishment (of Hell Fire)!

Thus, it would not be appropriate for a believer, who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day, to seek employment in an institution whose base business is fundamentally ‘haraam’.

Q-3: what kind of savings in banks are not haram  or intrest oriented?

There might be a few products which conventional banks offer which are not related with interest; but the great majority of the conventional banks only offer savings accounts with interest.

A believer who sincerely fears Allah and wants to abstain from the forbidden should seek alternative banking or saving methods; and in this day and age there are several good Islamic financial institutions which offer products that are ‘halaal’ according to Shariah.

Q-3: what do u say about keeping money in bank in current accounts?unlikely fix accounts it has no fix intrest ratios?

The institution of banking itself is not considered haraam in Islam; it is the ‘interest’ on which the conventional banks base their business which is forbidden. Thus, if one keeps his money in an account which does not bear him any interest, that is perfectly permissible.

Having said that, it would be prudent of the person to park his funds in an Islamic Bank, where one may benefit from ‘halaal’ income.

Q-4: if one has enough money and is not intrested in any kind of investment or  business but wants to increase his/her money bit by bit without jeopardizing it ,so what should he/she do?

It is not considered a fair proposition when one wants to be a partner only in the profits or increase of wealth, but is not interested in sharing any losses! And something which is not fair and just, can never be part of Islam.

Islam has guided the believers not to hoard ones wealth, but rather to put in a legal business or investment; that would benefit the person on an individual basis, and also benefit the society where he conducts his business or investment.

If one just hoards his wealth and does not put it to good use for himself and the society, he will have to pay the zakat on his wealth, which will obviously decrease the value of his wealth each year (at least in worldly terms). Thus, Islam has encouraged the believers to trade or invest their wealth for their own, as well as the community’s benefit.

A product which only increases in value within a given time, without any profit and/or loss risk involved, would be deemed riba; and would thus not be permissible for the believers.

Q-5: i heard someone saying that at time death,human being whether muslim or non muslim...bear unbearable pain,but according to their lvels of   faith? is that right?how does one feel when his spirit is extracted from body?

There is no doubt, that when the Angel of Death extracts the soul from a human being; there is indeed a severe feeling of pain (except for the martyrs). The level of pain one suffers depends on the will and decree of Allah Subhanah Alone! For the pain a righteous person feels during the pangs of death, Allah Subhanah will, if He Wills, forgive him some of his sins in lieu of the pain suffered. But for the disobedient people, the severe pain he feels at the time of death, will only serve as a fore-runner to the everlasting and unbearable punishment due to him in the Hereafter, for the evil deeds he did in his lifetime.

Indeed, the stupor and pain at the time of the death for a disbeliever is much much more severe, than for the true believers!

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 79 Surah Naziyaat verses 1-2:

1 By the (Angels) who tear out (the souls of the wicked) with violence;

2 By those who gently draw out (the souls of the blessed);

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 47 Surah Mohammed verses 27-28:

27 But how (will it be) when the Angels take their souls at death and smite their faces and their backs?

28 This, because they followed that which called forth the Wrath of Allah, and they hated Allah's good pleasure; so He made their deeds of no effect.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 8 Surah Anfaal verses 50-51:

50 If thou couldst see when the Angels take the souls of the unbelievers (at death); (how) they smite their faces and their backs (saying): "Taste the penalty of the blazing fire,

51 Because of (the deeds) which your (own) hands sent forth: for Allah is never unjust to His servants:

The most righteous and obedient slave of Allah Subhanah to ever walk on this planet earth, Prophet Mohamed (saws), too, had to bear the pangs of death…..

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1564 Narrated by Aisha

I saw the Prophet (saws) when he was dying. He had a drinking-cup containing water, and he would put his hand into the cup, wipe his face, and say, "O Allah, help me to bear the pangs of death."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 5.739 Narrated by Anas

When the ailment of the Prophet (saws) got aggravated (near his (saws) death), he (saws) became unconscious, whereupon (his beloved daughter) Fatima (r.a.) said, "Oh, how distressed my father is!" The Prophet (saws) said, "Your father will have no more distress after today."

Q-6: Is that right that when a muslim is martryed in jihaad for cause of Allah,at time of death he just feels like an ant has biten him? He

just get away with severe pain of death?

The Messenger of Allah (saws) indeed said in an authentic narration that one who dies as a Martyr in the Cause of Allah Subhanah, will not feel any more pain than one of us who suffers pain at the biting by an ant.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 1328 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

The Prophet (saws) said: “A martyr does not suffer when he is slain any more that one of you suffers from being bitten by an ant.”

Martyrdom in the Cause of Allah is the absolute sacrifice an obedient slave does for His Creator; and whoever is blessed with that stage of emaan, is indeed supremely honored, and his supreme sacrifice is appreciated by the Merciful Lord of the Worlds.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.53 Narrated by Anas bin Malik

The Prophet (saws) said, "Nobody who dies and finds good from Allah (in the Hereafter) would wish to come back to this world, even if he were given the whole world and whatever is in it, except the martyr; who, on seeing the superiority of martyrdom, would like to come back to the world and get killed again (in Allah's cause)."

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan