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Fatwa CenterHis father has property owned from Riba and gambling
Question
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu May Allah reward you for your work and accept all your deeds. Ameen. I have a very important question and I pray to Allah, that you will answer. Background information: My father was born in an islamic country and his whole family was always praying. When he was 23 years old, he moved to a western country and lived another live. He married a kafir woman (my mother) and he did not pray. He participated in a governmental program for families to build a house. This way he built a house which was based on riba. He also participated in the national lottery every week and one day he won a lot of money. From this money he bought a car and a house in his home country and paid a big part of his debt for the house in the western country. The only thing he always did was not eating and drinking during Ramadan, although he did not pray. After that, when he was 59 years old, Allah (swt) guided him and he started to pray his 5 obligatory prayers every day and he went to the Friday prayer every week. Then he saved some money and performed Hajj. Now he is praying almost every day 2 Rakas Qiyam before the Fajr prayer and he reads a lot Quran. Alhamdulillah. My questions: 1. Is it allowed for him to keep the house even it was build on riba and payed by money which he won in the lottery at a time when he was not praying? 2. If you say it is haram to keep the house and he still decides to keep it, what should I do with the heritage when he dies? Jazakum Allahu khairan Your brother in Islam Rachid Mokhtar
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
First of all, we ask Allaah to make your father firm on his repentance and grant him a good ending.
As regards him abandoning the prayer and participating in gambling, and dealing with Riba (interest and/or usury), then there is no doubt that these are grave major sins and darkness upon darkness.
However, since your father had repented, then for his repentance to be complete, he should get rid of the amount of money that he had earned from gambling and Riba transactions if he had known that they were forbidden, by spending it in charitable fields and in the general welfare of the Muslims.
In other words, he should get rid of the same amount of what he had earned from gambling and Riba transactions by spending it in charitable fields.
As regards the house and car, then it is lawful for him to benefit from them and he is not obligated to sell them because the sin is related to him (i.e. to the person who earned the money from gambling and Riba) and not to the money itself. Hence, when the house and car are owned by you through inheritance, they will be lawful, with greater reason, for you.
Allaah Knows best.
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