Q: My father is 68 years old now. He was working as a manager at a government bank for more than 40 years. When he was in his 20’s he joined the bank because of the financial problems which his family encountered. At the bank he served plenty of positions such as cashier, assistant manager, credit controller, risk manager, etc. He quit his job at this bank 8 years ago. Now he is working at our village in Baithuz Zakath and Baithul Maal organizations. I would like to present the following points:
• He has never given money for interest (Riba) for him
• He has never borrowed for interest (Riba) for him
• All what he done was he did his job at the bank.
• During his top management career, he was very interested in Islamic banking and tried to introduce Islamic banking system in his bank (At that time, there was no bank to conduct Islamic banking services. Very Recently, his bank started Islamic banking services to its customers. They used my father’s proposals and other documents to start this service)
• He did that job as his livelihood
• Till now, he gets pension from his bank (since his bank is a fully government owned entity, all the funds are directly coming from the treasury)
• He uses his knowledge in banking to uplift the Baithuz Zakath and Baithul Maal organizations in our city. (Many other villages are impressed with his Baithuz Zakath Organization Model. They meet him and get advices and support as well)
• He is very pious. He never misses any of his prayers.
Now I am writing my questions:
1. Is that pension money which my father gets from the bank haraam?
2. If it is haraam, what are the remedies ? (The money which he gets from Baithuz Zakath is not enough for him to meet his day to day needs.
3. Was his job (Banking Job) haraam?
A:
1. If the government is paying him then his pension is permissible.
3. The main business of a bank revolves around haraam. Hence, how can it be halaal.
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)