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Fatwa CenterPaying bank charges from interest money
Question
Are we allowed to pay our bank charges with interest money? For example, the money that the bank charges for the withdrawal of our own halal money? We do not want interest; we do not want to use it in anyway; we just want to give back their money which they give as interest in the form of bank charges. If we do not pay these charges to the bank from the money which they gave as interest, then we will have to pay their charges from our halal money.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The basic principle is that it is impermissible to deposit money in usurious banks for the reasons underlined in fatwas 88694 and 90054.
If the person needs to deal with usurious banks and deposit his money in them because of the absence of Islamic banks, for instance, then it is allowable for him to deal with such banks but within the scope of his need only; he may open a current account, as dealing in interest is lesser in this case. If the bank offers interest on the money deposited in current accounts, he should not leave this money with the bank. Rather, he should take it and spend it on the poor and needy. It is impermissible for him to use this money for his own benefit unless he is poor and needy.
Hence, you may not pay the bank charges from this interest money because this constitutes benefiting from it in order to preserve the rest of your money. Rather, you should take this money and give it out in charity, as we have mentioned above.
Allah knows best.
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