Working in Banks
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:
ASALAM
DEAR BROTHER
BURHAN,
I understand riba is haram, then, what is the
ruling for Muslims working in a foreign bank?
(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:
Working in Banks
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.
When
Allah and His Messenger (saws) have declared something forbidden, then to
derive any income from such an establishment would also be forbidden. Thus, if one is seeking employment, he should
fear Allah, abstain from seeking work in a
conventional bank. But if one is
already working in a conventional bank, it would be prudent for him to seek
repentance of Allah, and search immediately for another place to employ his
talents; and when he finds an appropriate job, resign from the present bank
job. And if one does this move purely
for the sake of Allah Subhanah, it is expected that
the Bounteous Lord will enrich him from His Infinite resources and give him a
huge reward for his efforts to obey the commands of Allah and His Messenger
(saws).
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,
Wister