Earning haram money

[anonymous]

I have a father who used to own a small grocery store where he sold haram items such as alcohol and pork for example. We no longer have the business but I was wondering what he should do after the fact? Or if there is something I can do on his behalf in the case he doesn’t do anything. Is it a matter of giving charity or what?

Unfortunately these types of businesses are very common among my people who come to the states :hmm:

 

[IslamLife00]

The first thing he needs to do is to repent and avoid committing this sin again. Since he does not have the business anymore, maybe he has done so.
Then he can donate the haram earning (that he still has with him, not what he has spent) to the poor and needy or any charity for good cause. You can do this on his behalf if you know the amount.
If you don't know the amount, you can estimate half-half.

More info here : https://islamqa.info/en/answers/110...benefiting-from-it-before-and-after-repenting

 

[Ahmed.]

Yes I agree with [MENTION=42271]IslamLife00[/MENTION] that first step is to repent and resolve to never trade in haram again.

Giving zakat is also a way to purify one's income. Allah knows that our income won't always be 100% halal so one of the wisdoms of zakat is, it is considered to be giving away that impure money you may have earned.

PS: but that don't mean a person can deliberately trade in haram or mix the halal with the haram; the zakat wisdom is there for the inevitable unscrupulousness we will fall into and render some of our money impure in that way. It's not a green light to deliberately mix the halal with haram.

 

[anonymous]

Assalamu Alaikum,

Any type of interest whether taken or received is haram because either way the bank or company you are dealing with is involved in riba somehow. For you to receive interest means that interest was taken from someone else. The way savings accounts (which adds interest into your savings) work, for example, is by using your money/savings to loan out to other people, but it is loaned to them with interest. When the loaners pay it back, they are paying it with interest and a small percentage of it is added into your account (the bank takes the rest of the interest for themselves). So in essence, no one here is getting free money without riba being involved.

So in regards to halal investing, there is a company called Wahed Investors and one I just recently heard about called Amana Mutual Funds trust. You can read an article about them HERE(Wahed) and HERE (Amana).

Alternatively, you can also buy and sell gold or gold jewelry. When prices are lower, you buy and when they are higher you sell. Keep in mind that gold like this will require a zakah. You can also search for islamic businesses that follow islamic law (eg. don't take loan from banks, aren't involved in riba, etc.), and become a shareholder. If there's a business that may become successful, I'm sure that it will help it a lot to get the funding and you'd share in the profits. Or maybe you can invest it as a new venture for yourself (ie. start your own business).

I hope this helps give you some ideas and understanding inshallah.

I've been doing a lot of research on this lately and while Islamic investing appears to be nice, it doesn't seem to be perfect either. Wahed for example stated:

Only those companies that pass the following financial ratios will be considered Shariah compliant:
• Debt is less than 33.333% of total assets
• Cash and interest-bearing items are less than 33.333% of total assets
• Accounts receivable and cash are less than 50% of total assets
• Total interest and non-compliant activities income should not exceed 5% of total revenue

So it seems that some of the companies on their list could still be involved in finances that aren't necessarily halal, but as long as their percentages are low enough, it passes. People state that scholars say this is ok, but is it really?

 

[M.I.A.]

I have a father who used to own a small grocery store where he sold haram items such as alcohol and pork for example. We no longer have the business but I was wondering what he should do after the fact? Or if there is something I can do on his behalf in the case he doesn’t do anything. Is it a matter of giving charity or what?

Unfortunately these types of businesses are very common among my people who come to the states :hmm:

I try and make an honest living by working hard. But I work in such a negative environment that I literally cannot tell if working is even halal..
It seems like everything I do is followed up by haram and negative conversations on the part of others..

Honestly feels like I'm losing my mind, but I dont talk much so that must count for some sort of proof.

People will tell you its haram and that's ok, that's the textbook answer that they cam love by.

But at the end of the day they already coined the phrase.. dont shoot the messenger..

But I dont know if I'm entitled to find a place of peace.