Prohibition of whats commonly known as legitimizing illicit wealth 

I’m a Masters student in the college of alMustafa in Qum and I’m doing a research on the legitimization of illicit wealth in connection with Islamic law and the laws of the country

I’ve looked into the different rulings from different scholars of fiqh but I haven’t found a satisfying answer or explanation that highlights the importance of this matter.

In His Name The Exalted

Peace and blessings be upon you,

Legitimizing illicit wealth is a source of destroying the economy and it also affects the behavior of others in a negative way.

It was a common practice amongst certain countries and it became something normal and accepted but it had a bad effect on not only the economy but the wellbeing of the people and being prevented from being able to make a living.

The world has recognized its threat and harmful effects and how to battle this ugly act and eradicate it. Even laws were formed that forbidden such practices and laid out a punishment for those caught doing practicing this act.

According to the Islamic laws within the shariah, it’s clear that there’s three points that affect the ruling.

1.)                         That which is washed; the money which one intends to purify and legitimize, the way in which it was obtained was forbidden itself like wealth earned by theft or the selling of illegal drugs or smuggling of oil or prostitution or bribes etc.

2.)                         The washer; The person or the second party who’s benefitting from such act. Therefore it’s forbidden to do such when it will help and benefit certain individuals that’s forbidden to help or assist them such as terrorists or groups that carry out forbidden acts like the mafia or oppressive rulers.

3.)                         The washing; the actual reason why the wealth Is being purified, such as the changing of money that’s not accepted in Islamic law like suspicious business, or businesses that help promote corruption or terrorism.

So from what was presented, it becomes clear that this act becomes forbidden when any of the three reasons are present, let alone all three.

In addition to the three above reasons there are other reasons as well such as:

1.)             That it’s generally seen as something that’s harmful to the economy and this itself is forbidden as it comes under that which is harmful to the society and it’s frowned upon by the community.

2.)             When government institutions use it in certain operations like banks, therefore it’s forbidden to use this wealth except with the permission of a qualified scholar who meets all conditions and requirements for being followed in taqleed.

There are exceptions to the rule such as a situation that one is in serious need like one who’s in a country which its laws forbid the changing of currency to another currency but this changing money is very necessary in carrying out a surgery or operation.

This type of situation doesn’t really come under the act of attempting to legitimize forbidden wealth and it’s excusable when the source of wealth isn’t forbidden.

Allah The Exalted says in the Holy Quran (..but whoever is driven to necessity, not desiring, nor exceeding the limits, no sin shall be upon him; indeed Allah is All Forgiving and Merciful. {The Cow verse 173})

There are other cases that don’t necessarily come under the same ruling but its actions are forbidden like giving a sum of money through a middle man to another in order to achieve a certain goal of obtain a certain position like one who comes to give a sum of money to a marja through a person who will deliver the money to the said marja in order to get the trust or be on good terms with him and attempt to get a position.

Or money used in order to flame division between Muslims.

Sheikh Muhammad Yaqoobi

1436 Safar 13

2014/12/6