Is it permissible for civil servants and employees to receive bank promotions?

- The company I work for has made a deal with a bank. On condition that we draw our salaries from that bank for four years, it gives the company a promotion of fifteen billion liras. The company will distribute it to the staff...

Dear Brother / Sister,

When salaries are deposited in banks that earn money by charging interest, the banks charge interest and earn money as long as the money stays in that bank. The amount given as promotion is a small part of this interest income. Therefore, the Muslims who are concerned about haram and halal should deposit their salaries in banks that do not charge interest.

As it is known, Islam has forbidden the lesser and greater amounts of interest, including interest-bearing transactions and contracts.

When the salaries of a group of civil servants or employees are deposited in an interest-based bank, that bank puts that money into the system - as long as it is not withdrawn - and earns money through interest-charging transactions. Part of the interest income goes to the bank and part of it is given to companies and civil servants.

Two drawbacks arise when salaries are received from interest-based banks:

1. You give the bank the opportunity to do interest transactions with your money.

2. You accept a gift from an institution whose income is mostly based on interest. In fact, I have already mentioned above that this gift is obtained from the interest they earn from your salaries deposited there.

What should we do in that case?

- If possible, we should deposit our salaries in participation banks that do not do interest-based transactions, and draw our salaries from them.

- If it is not possible, we should take the promotions given by interest-based banks but - if we are not poor - we should give them away to the poor.

- Since participation banks are interest-free institutions, it is permissible to use the promotions received from them.

Questions on Islam