Fatwa No : 84792
Ruling on Using the Illicit Income of One’s Father-in-Law

Ruling on Using the Illicit Income of One’s Father-in-Law

What do the honorable scholars say regarding the following issue? The questioner is married into a family where there is almost a joint family system. The household expenses are mostly covered by the father-in-law’s income. My father-in-law served as an Assistant Director in MDA (Multan Development Authority). He is now retired and receives a pension. However, during his service he used to take bribes and also acquired illegal plots. From these illegal assets, he has built a house for my husband, where the couple often stays. The questioner herself is both an Aalimah and a doctor, working in Lahore. But when I comes to Multan during holidays, I has to use whatever is provided in the house, which is mostly from my father-in-law’s doubtful income. (It is not known whether the expenses they use come from the unlawfully accumulated wealth from his job days, or from his current pension.) In such a situation, what is the ruling for me, especially when I finds no practical way to avoid this doubtful wealth? Whenever I tries to discuss this with my husband, he becomes argumentative and insists that everything his father has done is correct.
Can I use the income of my father-in-law?

الجوابُ حامِدا ًو مُصلیِّا ً

In the mentioned case, if the father-in-law’s wealth is a mixture of lawful and unlawful income, and it is not definitively known that the particular plot was built specifically from unlawful wealth, then due to necessity, the questioner is permitted to reside in that house. If the questioner is living within a joint family system where food and daily necessities are provided from this doubtful wealth, and refraining from consuming this food may lead to conflict or disorder within the household, then she may eat and drink from it, with the intention that she will give charity equivalent to the estimated value of what she has consumed. Later, she should calculate the approximate amount and give that much in charity.

مأخَذُ الفَتوی

وفی الھندیۃ:أهدى إلى رجل شيئا أو أضافه إن كان غالب ماله من الحلال فلا بأس کما فی الھندیۃ (الباب الثانی عشر فی الھدایا،ج:5،ص:342،ناشر:ماجدیہ)
وفی رد المحتار: وإن كان مالا مختلطا مجتمعا من الحرام ولا يعلم أربابه ولا شيئا منه بعينه حل له حكما والأحسن ديانة التنزه عنهالى قوله وفي الخانية امرأة زوجها في أرض الجور إن أكلت من طعامه ولم يكن عين ذلك الطعام غصبا فهي في سعة من أكله وكذا لو اشترى طعاما أو كسوة من مال أصله ليس بطيب فهي في سعة من تناوله الإثم على الزوج ا هـ (مطلب فيمن ورث مالا حراما،ج :٥، ص:٩٩،ناشر ايچ ایم سعید)
وفی الھندیۃ:آكل الربا وكاسب الحرام أهدى إليه أو أضافه وغالب ماله حرام لا يقبل ولا يأكل ما لم يخبره أن ذلك المال أصله حلال ورثه أو استقرضه وإن كان غالب ماله حلالا لا بأس بقبول هديته والأكل منها كذا في الملتقط(ج:5،ص:343،ناشر:ماجدیہ)
وفي شرح المجلة: المادة ٢١-(الضرورات تبيح المحضورات )هذه قاعدة اصولية ماخوذة من النص وهو قوله تعالى (الا مااضطررتم اليه) يعني ان الممنوع شرعا يباح عند الضرورة (ج:١،ص : ٥١ ،ناشر :دار الكتب العلميه)