What to do with earned interest : please answer my question on Zakah and interest money

Fatawa Question

Dear brother in Islam, May Allah reward you in abundance for all the good work you are doing... Ameen From a long time I have one question which needs to be answered. I needed an answer from an authentic source. I searched for your email on net since I couldn’t pose my question on Fatwa session of IOL. I am mailing you with lot of hope that my question will be answered : I am a web developer working in Kuwait. Alhamdulillah Allah has given me enough means to carry out my responsibilities and to make the ends meet. I have my family back in India and is comprising of my mother, elder brother and a younger sister. We lost our father last year, he died of lukemia. I have the complete responsibility of my family on my shoulders now, as my elder brother is schizophrenic. We as a family Alhmadulillah are trying to keep ourselves as much away from interest [i,e Riba] as possible. We dutifully discard all that interest that gets accumulated in our savings bank accounts which is inevitable since India lacks Islamic banks] and try to keep away from all that which involves interest. We usually give away the interest amounts to the poor or the needy within the family and sometimes outside family as well. Out of introspection once I thought why not keep this amount in a separate account which can be used to take care of my elder brother. During every visit the psychiatrist who is treating my brother reminds me to keep a certain amount aside every month so that it can be helpful when he is sick or for his future. Psychiatrist always reminds us that eventually my brother would become complete insane [god forbid] and may have to be sent to the rehabilitation center. He always reminds us to prepare for that day. He also mentions that once I get married and have a family I won’t be able to look into this regard as much I am doing now. So my question here is.... is this acceptable within the frame of Islam or will it be Haram to use this amount or even a part of the Zakath amount. Please guide me in this regard. With immense hopes of getting a reply.... Warm regards

Fatwa

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Publication Date

2007-06-23

Main Subjects

Economics & Business Administration
Islamic Studies

No. of Pages

2

Data Type

Fatawa

Language

English

Record ID

BIM-785797

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