Interest and Gambling

Q: I am a software engineer working in a University. The salary is going to my bank account, please explain to me how to save myself from sood (interest). Currently my money is being saved in a local bank. 

Q: A Muslim business has already taken out insurance on their fleet of vehicles.

Is it permissible for a Muslim to do the accounting records and related calculations for this insurance which they have already been taken out? For example, he will have to calculate the total insurance premium for all the vehicles, cross-check and ensure that the insurance records are correct, etc. The Muslim will be working for the business itself and will be in no way related to the insurance company.

Q: I have a saving dividend (interest money) with my provident fund and will receive it when I resign or retire. Without expecting reward from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, may I donate the money to needy people from my current income? 

Q: I have question about sood. In my town people are taking Rs.45,000 for a month and giving the Rs.60,000 or Motor Cycle CD-70 having price of Rs.63,000 after one month, so choice depends upon people either they want Rupees or Bike. So I want to know that whether it is sood or not. Some people are saying that taking rupees is sood but bike is not sood. Please guide me.

Q: Is life insurance allowed in Islam?

Q: A business bank account was opened with Nedbank. Upon opening the bank account an investment(call) account had to be opened in parallel( for international money transfer ). The investment accounts generates interest. Can the interest be used to offset bank charges?

Q: A person bought a commercial property for R10 million, and the replacement value is approximately R15 million. The current tenants will not sign a new lease unless building and third-party liability insurance for workers is covered. In this case, can the owner of the property take out an insurance policy?

Q: My questions are regarding haram earnings and investing it in education. I have learnt that investing haram money in a halal business is haram, and any remuneration is impermissible. This is what I understand.

1. If someone invests haram money in education by purchasing a course(s) that are permissible to study like language, science etc. and then they go on to study a degree also bought with haram earnings, will the knowledge that they acquire be permissible for them to use?

2. What is the status of the certificates and/or degree gained? Are these things haram for one who acquired them to keep or show employers?

3. And if he goes onto use this knowledge in a profession like medicine, teaching, engineering etc. will his earnings be haram? For example, he studies GCSE's, A-Levels, then goes onto study a degree in physics and then becomes a physics teacher after qualifying; will his earnings be haram after he spent haram earnings on all his previous courses?

Q: I would like to know if riba falls under the category of western interest? A lot of scholars have said that it does not and it is permissible. I would like to know the reasoning behind this and why it is or is not permissible. I have been reading a lot about this topic and when the word riba is translated it can have a large number of meanings.

Q: Is giving haraam money (riba) to someone else haraam? And is it haram to receive the haraam money that someone gave him?