Reluctant to Study and Wants to Take Money from Father who Works in Bank
Fatwa No: 471223

Question

I cannot go to university and study due to medical condition and also I’m not interested in studying is it permissible to take some money from my father who works in a bank and buy land with it or do some business with that money? Is it halal? Or if I can return the money to him after?JazakAllah khair

Answer

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

We summarize the answer to your question in two matters:

First: Your dislike of study, and this is what may happen to a person, but it should not be an obstacle and a reason for completely abandoning the study. The pleasure and desire for it will happen if a person is diligent, but if the pleasure is not achieved by that, then he will reap the intended fruit and the desired excellence, and this is the most important.

The second matter: It is related to taking money from your father who works in a bank, and you did not explain to us the type of bank, is it one of the usurious banks or one of the Islamic banks? It seems that it is a usurious bank since there is no problem with working in Islamic banks and what a person earns from them in general.

Based on the assumption that your father works in a usurious bank, he must stop working in it, so explain that to him wisely and kindly. As for your benefiting from what you need of his money by means of a loan or otherwise, then there is no sin on you in that according to the view of many scholars, especially if he worked in the bank believing that it is permissible to work in it.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said in Majmoo' Al-Fatawa: “The second principle: If a Muslim undertakes any transaction that he believes to be permissible, and receives money, it is permissible for other Muslims to deal with him with that money even if they did not believe the permissibility of such transaction.

The money that is forbidden to be earned, such as what is received in return for forbidden work, usury, and the like, is less important than money that is forbidden in itself, such as stolen or usurped money.

There are more details about the matter, but we cannot address that based on an assumption only, and it has been said that a good question is half the answer. In addition, we advise you to ask one of the scholars directly so that he can find out from you what needs clarification, especially what is related to the bank and the type of your father’s work in it.

Allah knows best.

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