Q: Is it haram if someone makes a contract and in the contract it says that they will give someone something for free, but it also says in the contract that if the person that gets the free thing breaks the terms and conditions of the contract or cancels once the free thing that is being given starts to be installed then they will be asked to pay for it and also if they break the contract and are asked to now pay for the free thing and they do not pay for the free thing when the money is asked from them then interest will be charged on the money they would owe? Is that a haram interest contract to ask someone to sign?
If it is, what should someone do with the money they have made and saved from doing a job that involved witnessing and asking others to sign up to a interest contract like this one? What should a person do if the company they worked for doing this for are due to pay him money from past contracts that the person signed others into?
A: This type of contract is totally impermissible in Shari'ah. If someone has been involved in this, then he should return the interest money to the one he had taken it from.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Checked & Approved:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
Q: Someones work involved asking people to sign a contract as part of a deal to get a free boiler (funded for by energy suppliers for free). In the contract it said something along the lines of that customers may be charged for the free boiler if they did not stick to their obligations and also if they canceled once the free work had began. It also said something along the lines of that if they were charged and then did not make payment then they may get charged interest. I asked Mufti's if a contract similar to this was a haram interest contract and I got a reply back that basically said yes it was a haram contract.
The person that was doing that work has now stopped getting people to sign the contracts and wants to know what to do with the money he had saved for his daughters court fees (that he had put aside and he had classed as being untouchable for him to spend because he had given it to his daughter) and also (like-wise) the money he had put aside for his nephew and also maybe £10-15 he has left from the money he earned and also what to do about money that the company he was doing the contracts for owe him?
The person was due to pay his rent today and can not afford to pay it. Before doing that job he had another job, but doing that job may lead to other sins being committed and also it is very very very low paid and is not yet enough to save up 10-£15,000 (although he believes he may be able to turn that low paying business around for the owner and make it more successful and earn him and the owner more money and maybe reduce the risk of earning sin insh'Allah).
He was quoted that £10-15,000 was an estimated cost for his daughters legal fees ( She is with a non-believing woman and he has not met his daughter for over 2 years) The guy who had the job that involved the contracts found out shortly before stopping doing the job that he could do a few things that may have boosted his pay to over £1300 a week... (after tax had been deducted from it).
He wants to get his daughter back and buy a house and maybe some land in maybe a Muslim country and maybe learn about Islam and try and get all his family to leave England insh'Allah.
He sometimes wonders if leaving his daughter and family behind to go and live in a Muslim country is what Allah might want him to do? He loves his daughter and misses her, it hurts him that he is not with her. He is afraid that if he leaves England without her, she will end up in hell and he also does not know what his duty is to his daughter, what to do to put Allah first, he wonders if by staying in England (and being surrounded by fitnah) it may result in him earning sins to the level that he ends up in hell.
He also wonders sometimes if staying in England is in a way putting his daughter before Allah, because if Allah preferred him to leave England and go to a Muslim country, but he decided to stay intentionally against what Allah might have wanted or out of ignorance (stay for for many years) to try and get his daughter back, but it was never going to happen and he was going to be trapped in England for the rest of his life, earning sin. He also worries that Allah will remove his faith.
Any advice for him?
A: The interest amount will have to be returned to those it was taken from. If you had given this money to your daughter or nephew, then you should take it back and return it to it's rightful owners as you had not become the owner of those monies.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَا لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ مِثْلُ الرِّبَا وَأَحَلَّ اللَّـهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا فَمَن جَاءَهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ فَانتَهَىٰ فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللَّـهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿البقرة: ٢٧٥﴾
عن جابر رضي الله عنه قال لعن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم آكل الربا وموكله وكاتبه وشاهديه وقال هم سواء رواه مسلم ( مشكوٰة المصابيح ص244)
عن أبي هريرة عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال ليأتين على الناس زمان لا يبقى أحد إلا أكل الربا فإن لم يأكله أصابه من بخاره ويروى من غباره رواه أحمد وأبو داود والنسائي وابن ماجه ( مشكوٰة المصابيح ص245)
وعن عبد الله بن حنظلة غسيل الملائكة قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم درهم ربا يأكله الرجل وهو يعلم أشد من ستة وثلاثين زنية رواه أحمد والدراقطني وروى البيهقي في شعب الإيمان عن ابن عباس وزاد وقال من نبت لحمه من السحت فالنار أولى به ( مشكوٰة المصابيح ص245)
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