Eating Ill-gotten properties

Praise be to Allah and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone with no partner with Him. I also bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger.

Allah (Exalted be He) says: “And eat up not one another’s property unjustly (in any illegal way e.g. stealing, robbing, deceiving, etc.), nor give bribery to the rulers (judges before presenting your cases) that you may knowingly eat up a part of the property of others sinfully.” [Surat Al-Baqarah: 188].

Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Ayah was revealed concerning a person who is indebted and does not have any proof, so he or she repudiates the money and sue them in court despite knows that the right is not his, and he is sinful because he eats up the ill-gotten monies.”[1]

Allah (Exalted be He) says: “Verily, those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, they eat up only fire into their bellies, and they will be burnt in the blazing Fire!” [Surat An-Nisa’: 10].

Imam Ahmad reported in his "Musnad" from the Hadith of Ka`b ibn `Iyad (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Verily, there is a Fitnah (trial) for every nation and the trial for my nation (or Ummah) is wealth".[2]

It is noted that many people eat up illegally the monies of others. That confirms the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him): "A time will come when one will not care how one gains one's money, legally or illegally".[3]

Ibn Al-Mubarak said: "To return a dirham that I have doubt whether it is lawful or not is dearer to me than giving a hundred thousand dirhams in charity."

`Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “We used to leave nine-tenths of lawful sustenance for eating up unlawful monies.” `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) did that in compliance with the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the Hadith of An-Nu`man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him): {Both legal and illegal things are evident but in between them there are doubtful (suspicious) things and most of the people have no knowledge about them. So whoever saves himself from these suspicious things saves his religion and his honor. And whoever indulges in these suspicious things is like a shepherd who grazes (his animals) near the boundaries of someone else and at any moment he is liable to get in it. (O people!) Beware! Every king has boundaries and the boundaries of Allah on the earth are His illegal (forbidden) things. Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.}[4]

Of the types of eating up ill-gotten monies is:

Usury that was forbidden by Allah and by His Messenger, cursing the usurer, the person who writes it, and its witnesses. Allah (Exalted be He) says: “O you who believe! Be afraid of Allâh and give up what remains (due to you) from Ribâ (usury) (from now onward), if you are (really) believers.” [Surat Al-Baqarah: 278].

The love of money has dominated the hearts of Some Muslims, so they raced one another in buying the shares of the riba-based banks, whereas others deposit their money in banks and take usurious percentage that they call (interest)!

Of the major crimes and dangerous matters is:

The tricks and methods that the owners of these banks do to attract the people to usury and exhorting them by all means to increase their own stocks from these ill-gotten monies.

For example: The card which they call (Visa Samba) about which the Permanent Committee issued a fatwa of prohibiting the deals of that card because it is a part of that which Allah and His Messenger prohibited. It is a card that the bank issue in return for what is so-called (the issue value). Its holder has the right to buy whatever he wants of goods and needs provided that he returns back that value during a certain period. If he did not do that, he will pay an interest for each day of delay.[5]

Of the types of eating up the illegal monies is:

Taking the salaries of the workers and not giving them their rights in the due time.

Of the types of eating up the illegal monies which you see frequently in markets:

Making a false oath to a commodity, fraud in the transactions, and so on.

The one who eats up illegal monies, jeopardize himself to the punishment of the world, in the grave, and on the Day of the Recompense:
As for the punishment of the worlds, he will lose his money, destruction the money which he earned or taking away the blessing from it, or shall be inflicted with an illness in his body. Allah (Exalted be He) says: “Allâh will destroy Ribâ (usury) and will give increase for Sadaqât (deeds of charity, alms, etc.) And Allâh likes not the disbelievers, sinners.” [Surat Al-Baqarah: 276].

As for the torment of the grave, it was reported in the Hadith Abu Hurayrah said: We went out in the company of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) on the day of (the battle of) Khaybar, and we did not get any gold or silver as war booty, but we got property in the form of things and clothes. Then a man called Rifa`ah ibn Zayd, from the tribe of Banu Ad-Dubayb, presented a slave named Mid'am to Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him). Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) headed towards the valley of Al-Qura, and when he was in the valley of Al-Qura an arrow was thrown by an unidentified person, struck and killed Mid`am who was making a she-camel of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) kneel down. The people said, "Congratulations to him (the slave) for gaining Paradise." Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "No! By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, for the sheet which he stole from the war booty before its distribution on the day of Khaybar, is now burning over him." When the people heard that, a man brought one or two Shiraks (leather straps of shoes) to the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "A Shirak of fire, or two Shiraks of fire."[6]

That sheet was only worth few dirhams, however, the usurer was not safe from the punishment of eating up the illegal money.

As for the punishment of the Hereafter, it was reported by Ka`b ibn `Ujrah that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him: "O Ka`b, the flesh which grew up from illegal money, Hell will be its Final End".[7]

Of the punishment of eating up the illegal monies is:

The supplication shall not be answered and a servant shall not be accepted by Allah.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "O people, Allah is Good and He therefore, accepts only that which is good. And Allah commanded the believers as He commanded the Messengers by saying: "O Messengers, eat of the good things, and do good deeds; verily I am aware of what you do." (Surat Al-Mu’minun: 51). And He said: “O those who believe, eat of the good things that We gave you." (Surat Al-Baqarah. 172) He then made a mention of a person who travels widely, his hair dishevelled and covered with dust. He lifts his hand towards the sky (and thus makes the supplication):"O Lord, O Lord," whereas his diet is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, and his clothes are unlawful and his nourishment is unlawful. How can then his supplication be accepted?"[8]

This Hadith includes a warning to a group of people, who were deceived by Satan which decorated their bad deeds for them.

You see them eat up illegal monies and spend out of it in charity such as building Masjids, schools, diging wells, or something of the like. They believe that they quitted themselves of ill-gotten monies, but those shall be punished twice:

First: Allah shall not accept their righteous deeds which they spent from the ill-gotten monies because of the Prophet’s saying: "Allah is good and does not accept but things that are good"[9]

Second: Allah will punish them for that illegal money in the Hereafter. Khawlah Al-Ansariyyah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Some people spend Allah's Wealth (i.e. Muslim's wealth) in an unjust manner; such people will be put in the (Hell) Fire on the Day of Resurrection".[10]

Sufyan Ath-Thawry said: "Whoever spends the ill-gotten money in charitable ways as if those who purify the garment with urine. However, the garment cannot be cleansed except with pure water and the sins are only removed by lawful means.”

O Allah, suffice us with Your Lawful Sustenance rather than the unlawful and enrich us with Your Favors rather than the favors of others.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. May Allah send His Peace and Blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.