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Fatwa CenterParents insist that he deals with interest-based bank
Question
Assalamu alaykum. Respected brother, I am a firm believer in Islam, and I try to avoid major sins as much as possible. However, I have a domestic issue that I am finding extremely difficult to solve and would need your advice to resolve it. There is a bank named National Savings Pakistan which completely runs on interest. The profit that they provide after a few months is all interest. I came to realize this through different Islamic forums as well as my family members. The problem is that my father has transferred a lot of money to me as inheritance, into that bank which works with interest. I am deeply concerned about this. In fact, I even had an argument with him regarding this issue, but he is not convinced about it. I even gave references of some major Islamic scholars who have categorically warned against this bank. According to my father, this bank, he believes, is not interest-based and he sees that all profits earned are for my benefit. He says that other Islamic banks do not offer the amount of profit that this bank does. Also, when I went a bit extreme by saying that I will completely withdraw all the money from this bank and transfer it into an Islamic bank, my father warned me that if I dared to do that, then he would curse me and never talk to me again. Ever since that day, I have been quite distressed. I do not know what to do. I have no siblings, so taking care of my father as he grows old is my responsibility in Islam. Also, I always want to seek blessings from my parents and do not want to end my ties with them due to this issue. Please help me out. My mother is also not convinced about this bank being interest-based, even though my family members and Islamic scholars think otherwise. I am extremely sad to say that no one has been able to convince my parents till now due to my parents' greed for money. No fatwa seems to guide them. My question is: should I take a firm action and transfer all my inherited money into Islamic banks? This will save me from interest, but it might cause my ties with my parents to be broken.
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.
If the money that was deposited in the interest-based bank belongs to you, like if your father has given it to you as a gift – which is the apparent meaning of your words – then you are obliged to withdraw it from this bank, and it is not permissible for you to leave it there out of obedience to your parents; obedience is only in what is lawful, and there is no obedience to the parents when they order their children to disobey Allaah. There is no doubt that dealing with interest is a grave, major sin. Please, refer to fatwa 84942.
Nevertheless, [after you withdraw the money] you are obliged to be kind and dutiful to your parents, and if you can withdraw your money from the interest-based bank without their knowledge so that you do not make them angry, then that would be good.
Allaah knows best.
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