Question
I am a tenant in a building which is unfit for human habitation according to the health standards here in the U.S.A. The landlord wants to sell the property and has ordered me to get out immediately. Legally there are three options available to me. These are: 1) The law requires that a tenant be given three months notice to vacate. I can delay the eviction order of the landlord for at least a year if I go to court. 2) There is a 'buy-out' option. I can ask the landlord to pay me a sum of money for immediate vacation. 3) I can report the state of the building to the health authorities. Is it permissible for me to avail of any of these options?
Answer
When the owner of a property serves notice, then it becomes obligatory on the tenant in terms of the Shariah to vacate. It is not permissible to resort to delaying tactics or to adopt any measure to prolong one's stay in the property which the owner wants for himself or to sell or to do whatever he wishes. According to Islam, it is unjust and an act of usurpation to continue occupying the property in conflict of the wishes of the landlord.
The 'Buy-Out' option is haraam. It is not permissible to ask for money to vacate. Such money is in the haraam Riba category.
Calling the building inspectors will not be permissible. It will be an act of spite enacted in retaliation for eviction. The eviction is the right of the landlord. It is haraam to harm a person even if he/she is a corrupt kaafir, who avails himself/herself of his/her right. It is the landlord's right to reclaim the building for whatever purpose he intends.
- Source
- themajlis.co.za
- Published in
- The Majlis Vol 20 No 03
- PDF page
- 5
Appears under Questions and Answers (approximate).