i met road accident before ten years and i claimed on govt. i won the case and now gov. has puted Rs.90,000 as fixed diposit in one bank for which i am getting interest of Rs. 1700/- every quarterly and principle amount of Rs. 90,000 will be received after next seven years. Where can I utilize the principle amount as well as the interest amount received every quaterly Regards

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

With regard to benefitting from the capital sum of the deposit [i.e. without the interests] then this depends whether or not you are entitled to the deposit from the government. If you deserve that deposit from a religious point of view, then you have the right to benefit from it.

As regards the interests, it is Riba (interest and/or usury) and you are not permitted to possess it, but you should take it and spend it on charity and on the general interests of Muslims; for more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 83894.

Finally, it should be noted that if you are poor and needy, then you have the right to take from the interests according to your necessity only.

Allaah Knows best.