Being forced by the government to pay interest
Question
If a person works at an accounting office that deals with tax and due to no fault of his own the government reassesses the tax liability of a previous period and charges it say a year after with interest and penalty. Is it haram to pay that? What if the accountant has to submit the payment since he deals with the account, is he liable for the sin too? Since he is not involved with the deal, it is not his account and he is not the scribe for the deal nor did he witness the contract?
Answer
When you have no choice in the matter, insha Allah, Allah will forgive you. It is just like a traffic fine; you have no choice in the matter.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
References (Arabic / Urdu sources)
الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَا لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَانُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ مِثْلُ الرِّبَا وَأَحَلَّ اللَّـهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَا فَمَن جَاءَهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِ فَانتَهَىٰ فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللَّـهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿البقرة: ٢٧٥﴾
عن جابر رضي الله عنه قال لعن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم آكل الربا وموكله وكاتبه وشاهديه وقال هم سواء رواه مسلم ( مشكوٰة المصابيح ص244)
الضرورات تبيح المحظورات ( الاشباه والنظائر لابن نجيم 1/ 251)
- Answered by
- Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)
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