Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 347
16 September 1905 347 (Before noon) Using Interest Paid by Banks for the Propagation of Islam is Permissible Ever since Hadrat Maul a n a Maulaw i ‘Abdul-Kar i m has become unwell and many friends have come after taking leave [from their occupations], it has become the routine of His Holiness to come and sit in the mosque before noon and speak as appropriate to the occasion. On 14 September, Sheikh Noor Ahmad Jalandhri [was pres- ent], Chaudhary Nasrullah Khan Pleader had come from Sialkot, and many other friends had come from out of town. Sheikh Noor Ahmad mentioned the interest banks invariably paid 1 and asked what should be done with it. Upon this, the Promised Messiah as said: My belief is that such money should be spent on the cause of propagating the Faith, and this is indeed what Allah the Exalted has instilled in my heart. Interest is undoubtedly for- bidden, but that applies to one’s self. That which goes into the possession of Allah the Exalted cannot remain forbidden because the prohibition of things is for man and not for Allah the Exalted. So, interest is totally forbidden for one’s self, wife, children, friends, relatives and neighbours. 2 But if this money 1. From Badr: And some people also say that if the depositors of the money do not take the interest [paid on the money deposited], then such money is tak- en from the bankers by the missionaries for propagating Christianity. ( Badr, vol. 1, no. 26, p. 4, dated 29 September 1905) 2. From Badr: It is absolutely forbidden for a person to spend interest money on himself or on any kind of personal expenses or to give it to his wife or children or to give to any poor indigent person, or to a neighbour or a traveller. All this is forbidden. Taking and spending interest money is a sin. ( Badr, vol. 1, no. 26, p. 4, dated 29 September 1905)