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:

dear brother,

assalmualikum,
im very confused and i have a lenthy question.if a person only invests his money in a business i.e his is not actually taking part in it and then every month his partner give him 40,000 Rs,i.e fixed amount.i woud like to know wether this is interest?my lots of in laws are doing this kind of investment,so every time they invite us to dinner,i feel very depressed that i,m going to eat which is perhaps not halal.so pls help me out what should i do in this situation.

because if i refused to go there my husband will certainly mind it and this going to lead to bitterness in our relatoinship.i`ll be very grateful to u, 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Can one eat from someone’s haraam earnings?

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: if a person only invests his money in a business i.e his is not actually taking part in it and then every month his partner give him 40,000 Rs,i.e fixed amount.i woud like to know wether this is interest?

If a person invests his money in a business, and even though he does not participate physically in the running of the business, and draws his share of the profits of Rs. 40,000.00 every month as a drawing; with the intention that at the end of the year when the exact profits are declared, he will adjust his drawings with his exact share, there is no harm.

Or if the person invests his money in the business, and works in the running of the business either physically or mentally, and draws a monthly salary from the business of Rs. 40,000.00; there is no harm.

But if a person invests his money in a business without physically or mentally taking part in the running of the business, and regardless of whether the business makes a profit or a loss, takes a fixed income of Rs. 40,000.00 every month as a result of his initial investment; then it would indeed be considered ‘riba’ or interest, and thus would be considered haraam.

Q-2: my lots of in laws are doing this kind of investment,so every time they invite us to dinner,i feel very depressed that i,m going to eat which is perhaps not halal.so pls help me out what should i do in this situation.

If you have knowledge that the people inviting you to eat at their house have other sources of halaal income other than their ‘riba’ income, then there is absolutely no harm in eating in their house; for what you eat will be considered from their other halaal income.

But if you are convinced that the only income the people inviting you to dinner have is from the ‘riba’ income and nothing else; then it would be purer and better for the believers to abstain from eating anything which they might offer from their haraam incomes; as a sign of your disapproval of their haraam earnings.

But if you fear that your refusal will affect your relationship with your husband in marriage, you may eat from what they offer; for they alone will carry the burden of the sin for earning their livelihood from a haraam source.

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