Can I Keep Extra Money With Interest Paid From Withheld Profit Share?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
My employer withheld part of my profit share for several years and later paid it as a lump sum that exceeded the original amount withheld due to investment returns that included interest.
Is it permissible for me to accept the full amount, or must I forgo the excess?
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.
You may reclaim the amount that was yours (the withheld profit share). Any excess from interest (riba) isn’t permissible for you to benefit from. This excess should be given away to charity or public benefit without expecting reward, as a means of purification, not charity in the spiritual sense. [Ibn ’Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel has received a traditional education in various countries. He started his schooling in the UK and completed his hifz of the Quran in India. After that, he joined an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied secular and Aalimiyya sciences. Later, he traveled to Karachi, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries to further his education. Mawlana has served as an Imam in the Republic of Ireland for several years and taught the Quran and other Islamic sciences to both children and adults. He also worked as a teacher and librarian at a local Islamic seminary in the UK for 12 years. Currently, he resides in the UK with his wife and is interested in reading and gardening.
