Can One Work at an Insolvency Law Firm Where One Records Claims and Demands of Interest To Be Sent Out to Creditors?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I work at an insolvency law firm and send out forms to creditors. Apart from filling out the amount of debt the debtor owes to them, the creditors can also fill out the amount of their ‘legal’ riba demand from the debtor, which the debtor owes them according to German laws because of not being able to pay his debt in time. My job is to put in the deadlines for the claims and riba demand and send these forms to the creditors. Is this considered dealing with riba? I’m a student, and this is my only job right now. Can I continue working in this law firm?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
As you are not involved in the initial interest-bearing transaction of the claim and demand. Your work only involves the subsequent recording of the claims and demand of interest and sending it to the creditors. Therefore it is permissible for you to work at the insolvency firm.
Allah Curses all Involved in Interest
Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Allah has cursed the one who consumes usury, its client, its witness, and its scribe. Usury and adultery do not become widespread among people, but they will become vulnerable to the punishment of Allah Most High.” [Musnad Ahmad]
It is evident from this hadith that it is the initial writing and preparing of the document of interest that invokes Allah’s curse and not its subsequent recording in a statement of the facts. Therefore, in your case, it will be permissible for you to work at the insolvency firm.
[Taqi Usmani, Contemporary Fatawa]
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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
