Assalamualaikum,
I used to work at a government hospital in Toronto, and was part of their pension plan. Recently I moved to another city and since the pension plan does not transfer over, I have been allowed to withdraw half of my pension funds. The pension company (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan) requires that the other half of the accumulated funds be placed into A Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA) (A Canadian investment accounts designed specifically to hold locked-in pension funds for former plan members).
LIRA functions in the same way as RRSP, except that in RRSP you can cash in your funds anytime, LIRA locks your funds until you retire. We have, as a family, always avoided anything to do with Riba, in this situation however, we do feel that we have no control. The money has been invested into mutual funds and it appears that it will accumulate interest. Will we get gunah for this? What options do we have at this point?
Jazakallah Khair, for taking the time to read my question, I am indeed very grateful for this service and your help.
Assalamualaikum,
الجواب وبالله التوفيق
As per the situation described in your question, the ruling depends upon where the money in that account is invested by your employer. If the money is invested in a haram or impermissible sources of earning then utilizing the profit earned on that invested amount is considered haram. If however the money is invested in a permissible source of earning then that investment and utilizing the profit from it will be considered permissible.
You should perform further research by talking to your employer and resubmit the question if needed.
واللہ اعلم بالصواب