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[A Man Placed His Money in the Bank, and When He Withdrew It He Gave the Increase in Charity]

Mufti:
Alsayyed Muhammad b. Abdallah Awad Al-Muayyady
تاريخ النشر:
Fatwa number: 20256
Number of views: 8
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[A Man Placed His Money in the Bank, and When He Withdrew It He Gave the Increase in Charity]
Fatwa number: 20256
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Question

Question: A man placed an amount of money in the bank. After a period he requested his money; the bank gave him his money and added extra. He took all of it and gave the extra in charity, since it was ribā. Is his liability cleared if he took the increase from the bank and gave it in charity, or not?

Answer

Answer: A man may be excused in such a case if he put his money in the bank for the first time, not knowing that the bank pays interest. But if he knows that the bank pays interest to anyone who deposits money with it, then it is not permissible for him to deposit his money there, because:
The bank is, in reality, established to trade with everything deposited with it, in return for a monetary percentage paid to the depositor each month. What is deposited in the bank is not, in truth, a “deposit” (wadīʿah); rather, it is a loan the bank takes to benefit from, for which it pays the lender “interest.” Thus, depositing in the bank is in fact a loan that draws a benefit.
If it is said: The depositor’s intention may be merely safeguarding his wealth—he has no intention of receiving interest; another may intend and seek interest and profit. “Actions are by intentions.” Hence, there would be no blame on one who has no intention to seek profit and whose aim is only the safekeeping of his money—unlike the one who intends and seeks profit.
It is said: A transaction whose nature and established function is to produce the forbidden benefit is prohibited absolutely—whether one intends that benefit or not. Committing a sin does not require an intention.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2

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