interest

Investing with a partner that deals in interest

Q: We live in a non Muslim country. I have a business in which we take a plot, then develop the building and then sell. Usually it is a partnership deal. I do it with my partner who is a non Muslim. For e.g. he invests 50% of money. I invest 50%. The money he invests is of riba (interest). Since he is a non Muslim, his major part of earnings are giving money on interest to people. So he gets 50% of profit of our business, I get 50%. Since in the investment his 50% invested money is of riba, will it be permissible for me to work with him or not? 

Nedbank Greenbacks

Q: Is it permissible to redeem Nedbank Greenbacks for cash? Greenbacks Rewards is easy to understand and easy to use. You earn Greenbacks every time you swipe your linked Greenbacks card on eligible spend.

The Greenbacks Rewards Programme has a monthly linkage fee of R17, which is charged in arrears. Choose how you spend your rewards, your rewards are automatically loaded onto your "Free Shop Card" which you can use at over 100 000 stores, withdraw as cash from any ATM and even use it overseas. The Choice is yours.

Investing in shares on the stockmarket

Q: I have been investing in shares for the past two years and I have earned a good amount of profit so far. When investing, I avoid buying shares in companies such as banks, insurance companies, companies manufacturing and selling liquor, etc. I only invest in companies of which the main business is halaal. However, when I look at the financial statements of the companies, I find that these companies do have interest dealings and some other haraam elements in their operation. Will it be permissible for me to invest in these companies? Also, will the profits earned through the investment be halaal?

Declaring war with Allah Ta'ala by dealing in interest

Q: My older brother is the head of the household and he makes most of the financial decisions for me. A while ago he made me apply for a loan that I would have to pay interest on. Now that I know that paying interest is haram, I've tried hard to convince him to cancel the loan and even told him about valid Islamic sources to show that it is a grave sin. He simply said that we're in a tough situation and I need the loan to go to college so exceptions have to be made. And he went on to add, "These online muftis don't know the difficulties our family goes through to put bread on the table." I'm in a situation where I have no control in returning the loan before interest starts accruing on it since he has control over the bank account. I fear that my family will lash out at me and maybe even cut family ties from me for putting them through difficulties for my own beliefs since they don't follow Islam as closely as I do. I'm very scared of the consequences I will have to face for letting him force me into taking a loan in which I will pay riba on. Please let me know of any way to deal with this sin that I see no way of avoiding. I would even pay 10 times the amount in sadaqa as I took in the loan (later on in my life) if I have to.

Using halaal money from an account that accrues interest

Q: I have some fixed deposits which accrues some interest. Now if I perform Hajj/Umrah from the halal money i.e. not earned from the interest, will it be accepted? I ask this, because I heard that the prayers of the one who deals with riba are not accepted. I'd also like to know if my other prayers, i.e., Salah, Fasting etc, are accepted as well?

Taking a loan on interest

Q: I work with a company and its operate a cooperative where any employee can be saving any amount from his or her monthly salary. And one can choose to collect loan and he will pay 10% interest of the amount he collected over period of time. Then at end of every year the 10% interest collected from those people that collect loan will be shared among the people that are saving money in the cooperative including those that collected loans and paid the interest. So my question is; is the transaction halal and the interest one paid and received?