Getting rid of ill-gotten money and abstaining from dealing in a prohibited transaction


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Q: We were lucky enough to know your messenger, Shaykh Musa Jibril. After knowing him, our life changed completely. My whole family became good Muslims; men and women started to offer Salah (Prayer); women started to wear modest clothes; and we started to offer Salah after we had been atheists, praise be to Allah. However, we are facing a problem. We have a commercial store where all kinds of wine are sold, in addition to lawful products, such as food and non-alcoholic drinks. This store's profit is almost (Part No. 14; Page No. 45) 1000,000 USD a year. It is a partnership between my two brothers and I. I tried with the help of Shaykh Musa Jibril to influence my two brothers to sell this store, and buy another one where we can trade in lawful ways. However, we could not do it. We are still trying to convince them, and they still insist. So, I wanted to break up this partnership to please Allah and His Messenger. I have no source of income other than this store, and we have large sums of money in the bank, which yield us huge profits every year.My question is whether I can take some of this money or not. I am waiting for your reply as soon as possible. Kindly be informed that I became a Da`y (caller to Islam), praise be to Allah, and many people embraced Islam and began to offer Salah regularly because of me.


A: First, praise be to Allah that He has guided you to the truth, and helped you to follow it. You should thank Allah for His graces, and ask Him to save you from the rest of the Munkar (that which is unacceptable or disapproved of by Islamic law and Muslims of sound intellect), so that His grace is completed. May Allah guide you more and more. Second, it seems that part of your money is lawful and part of it is not. If this is the case, you should take your money at the time of breaking the partnership, and give Sadaqah (voluntary charity) of it as much as you think is needed to get rid of the unlawful money, and then spend the rest of it on yourself, so that Allah may grant you of His bounty, as Allah says, (Part No. 14; Page No. 46)  And whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allâh, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allâh will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allâh has set a measure for all things. You should hasten to break up the partnership in prohibited trade, repent to Allah and ask His Forgiveness for the past, and observe the limits set by Allah in the future, whether in trade or anything else. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.




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