Impermissible to possess money given by state for infrastructure maintenance

24-8-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

A man who used to be a government official in a kafir country that is hostile to islam was given a sum of money from his country in order to maintain some infrastructure in his local village however turmoil and chaos befell his country and so he fled his country with this sum of money. What is the ruling of this money?

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Answer:

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and messenger.

This money is unlawful for this man and it is impermissible for him to possess it in any shape or form. It is incumbent on him to return this money to the party that has given it to him if he does not have any hope of being able to spend this money to achieve the purpose for which it was given to him.

If he cannot return it to its owner, he should spend it on the public welfare such as in hospital maintenance and so on in a village other than his.

Allaah Knows best.