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Commission is lawful provided operation is lawful

Question

On behalf of a brother I ask your Fatwa of what he told me, as follows:
I live in the USA. Some lady in West African, I do not know, sent to my e-mail that he wants me to provide him with my bank account to transfer amount of money. She told me that she inherited this money from her husband whom was poisoned by his associates who were trading the coco. She asked me to receive this money and help her and her son come over, her son to resume his education, and to find a good business field to invest it, in return she gives me 15% of this amount. His question is:
1. I do not know if that is Haram or Halal "to me" to deal with him?
2. Is it considered a money laundry? Is it considered a crime in Islam?
Please explain.

Answer

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. Initially money gotten from trading in coco is lawful and the fact that a woman and her child get that money by inheritance is also lawful. So, if this is the case, there is no harm in helping her and there is no objection to your taking some commission in return to the help you provided to her and her son. Nevertheless, if you come to know that her money comes from Haram earnings or that she will invest the money in Haram, in this case, it is unlawful to help her or take anything from her. Doing so will be a help in transgression which is forbidden in Islam. Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {…do not help one another in sin and transgression….}[5:2]. Allah knows best.

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