If a husband says his only way of supporting the family is by dealing with interest-based work, what should the wife do? Is it ok for her to accept this money as her dowry? The husband is actually helping people LOWER their interest rate on their houses, is this acceptable? What should the wife do?
ANSWER
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
Firstly, it should be known that interest is totally Haram (unlawful) in Islam and any work which is connected to interest is also Haram. The Qur’an and Sunnah are quite clear on this. Therefore the interest based work of the person in question is not permissible, thus making his earnings unlawful.
Secondly, in the situation where the husband supports his family with only unlawful money, the wife should first try her best to convince her husband to leave his job and look for another lawful job. If he insists on carrying on with his job, then if the wife has (lawful) means where by she can provide for her self, then she should do that. If this is also not possible, then it will be permissible for her to take from her husband’s money and the sin will be on the back of the husband.
Thirdly, the wife should not take this money as her dowry as it is unlawful money. If she wants, she can also forgive her husband from paying the dowry.
After writing this answer (which is normally given from Dar al-Uloom Karachi), I came across the Fatwa given by one of the great jurists of the recent past in the Indo/Pak, Mufti Mahmud Hasan al-Gangohi (Allah have mercy on him), who was the grand Mufti of India for several years. His fatawa collection is in 18 volumes. (This humble servant has also been privileged to receive Ijazah in Hadith from him).
He writes in his Fatawa:
“If the income of the husband is from bribery or taking somebody else’s wealth by force (gasab), then the wife should not use it, as this is Haram (unlawful) money in itself. However, if the unlawful money was earned due to some other unlawful dealing, then it would be permissible and the sin will be on the husband.” (See: Fatawa Mahmudiyya)
The great Hanafi jurist, Imam Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) has also mentioned similar to this in his Radd al-Muhtar, when he discusses unlawful wealth (mal al-haram).
And Allah Knows Best
[Mufti] Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK