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Q&A: Working in a bank or financial sector?

The following is a question we received from one of our readers and our answer:

Question: Please can you explain whether working in a bank is permitted and if so in which type of positions, for example is supporting the IT or software in the bank permitted? Also the same question for the financial sector in general i.e. stock markets, insurance, etc.

Answer:

The following is an extract from english translation of 'The Economic in Islam' by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani' that sheds light on the matter:

"The Rule Regarding Hiring Over Prohibited Benefits

In order that hiring be legally valid, the benefit must be permitted (halal) in nature. So the employee should not be hired for doing something which is prohibited. Accordingly a worker should not be hired to carry alcohol to one who buys it, or to press it. Nor should he be hired to carry pigs or carrion. At-Tirmidhi narrated from Anas bin Malik, who said: "The Messenger of Allah (SAW) cursed ten types of people regarding alcohol: its presser, the one who asks for it to be pressed, its drinker, its carrier, the one to whom it is carried, the one who serves it, its seller, the one for whom it is sold, its purchaser and the one for whom it is purchased." Hiring is also not allowed over any work of usury, because it is a hiring over a prohibited benefit, and because ibn Majah narrated from ibn Masoud that the Prophet (SAW) cursed the one who takes usury, his agent, its two witnesses and its recorder (clerk). The employees of banks and coinage (minting) departments and all the organisations that deal with usury have to be examined. If the work they were hired to do is a part of the usury work, whether the usury is the product of that work exclusively, or whether it is produced by that work along with others, Muslims are prohibited to perform such works. This includes the manager, accountants and auditors and every work that provides a benefit connected with usury, directly or indirectly. But the work that is not connected with usury directly or indirectly, such as the porter, the guard, the cleaner and the like, these works are allowed, because it is a hiring on an allowed benefit, and because what applies on the recorder and the witnesses of usury, does not apply on them. Similar to the employees of banks are government employees who are involved in deals with usury, such as employees who work in preparing loans with interest to farmers, and Treasury employees who are involved in usury works, and the employees of the orphans departments which lend property with interest. All these are prohibited jobs; anyone who is involved with them is committing a great sin, because it is applied on him if he is the recorder or the one who witnesses usury. Similarly it is prohibited upon a Muslim to engage in any work prohibited by Allah (SWT).

With regard to the work, whose profit or association in it is prohibited because it is legally invalid such as insurance companies, share holding companies and co-operative associations and the like, they have to be examined. If the work that the employee performs is illegal, or it is of an invalid (batil) or defective (fasid) contract, or results from them, a Muslim is not allowed to handle it, because a Muslim is not allowed to deal with invalid or defective contracts or with the actions which result from them. He is not allowed to deal with any contract or action which disagrees with the hukm shar’i (divine rule), so it is prohibited for him to be hired for involving in them. This is like the employee who records insurance contracts though he dislikes them, the one who negotiates the insurance terms, or the one who accepts the insurance. Similarly is the case of the employee who distributes the profit of the co-operative associations according to the member holdings, and the employee who sells company shares or who works in share stock accounting, and also like the employee who advertises for the co-operative associations and the like. All employees of companies, whose work is legally allowed to be performed, are allowed to be employed in such positions. If a person is not legally allowed to perform a work for himself then he is not allowed to be an employee for doing it because he is not allowed to be hired to do it. So actions which are prohibited to be conducted, the Muslim is prohibited from hiring others to it or to be hired himself to do it."


Regarding working in supporting the IT of a bank or financial institution the following is from a Q&A related to the subject:

"There are three relevant principles in this regard.
1. To do something prohibited is prohibited.
2. That which is predominantly believed to lead to something prohibited is prohibited.
3. That which is directly connected to something prohibited is prohibited.

So a riba-contract is prohibited. And writing it is prohibited, as stated in ahadeeth.

The development of a computer program which calculates interest is not prohibited as such, because the development of computer programs as such is permissible.

However, when it is directly connected with something prohibited (like riba), it is prohibited, too. For example:

If one gets order from a bank to develop an application which will (among others) be used to calculate interest (riba), then this is directly connected. In this case, the development is prohibited. It is regarded as assistance. If one was to develop such a computer program independently (without an order from a bank) and sell it on the market, then it would be permissible (even if among the buyers there were banks that bought and used the software). This is because there is no direct connection to something prohibited, therefore it cannot be regarded as assistance.

Another example: If someone works in a bank as a technician, who maintains computers which are used for prohibited things, then this is prohibited, for it is directly connected. His work means assistance. If he was ordered by the bank to deliver pizza to their personnel, this would be permissible, because it is not regarded as assistance and there is no direct connection to anything prohibited.

Most of the cases in question deal with matters which are directly connected with something prohibited.

For example: As said, the development of programs calculating interest itself is permissible. Like someone working for Microsoft doing such a job, if they want to sell it on the market without a direct connection to its actual practical use. If the same person was ordered to do so directly by a bank, it would be prohibited because it means assistance."

Comments

Anonymous said…
isnt computer programs supposed to be electrical pulses and is a different reality altogether? sheikh taqiuddin nabbhani(rahimulah) did not mention specifically about computer programs..

one of the brothers that i had a discussion with explained that the hadeeth regarding usury is restricted in its meanings to what it explicitly states and to those category of people who are performing that action. can there be two different interpretations of this hadeeth?
Anonymous said…
there is one aspect on the last example that you gave..
the work in a bank as a technician.. a work as a network specialist would mean fixing the routers.. but these routers are not directly used by the bank personnels.. they are indirectly connected as these are network layer far out of reach from common users..

so similarly how can a computer be used directly for usury recording?.. a computer is a piece of hardware and the reality is it is actually the specialized software which is developed by third party vendors which are used by bank personnels to enter usury records.. then isnt computer indirectly connected whereas the usury specialized software is directly connected?
Anonymous said…
see the other aspect that i could not understand is the relation of order from bank.. the bank never gives orders it would be the managers or self driven.. so it seems the link is regarding directly connected i.e. principle 3 only and for banks it involves the use of a direct action connected directly to usury..

so a person who makes a payment program to formulate a payment file format to be used by another program(i.e. transfer of payments already collected by a third party software) for credit card dues would his actions be directly connected to taking/giving/recording/witnessing usury? since the payment program is not directly connected to usury calculation.. the reality is that these payment interest calculations are done by a third party program based on payments made by the customer..
Anonymous said…
so according to principle 3 it seems that it has to be directly calculating usury if under direct employment by a bank and that software product can not be originated from our actions.. and in that regards it would fall under the category of assistance..
all above comments by same person anonymous..
Anonymous said…
i.e. in software development there are modules that are developed by different people.. so if in a software team employed by bank will the person who would be doing the coding for the interest calculation module(gui,backend logic,code logic,database field setup etc) would be directly connected? those who would be coding any other aspects not directly connected to interest module but developing this software will they be directly connected?
Islamic Revival said…
AA

Remember the Sheikh is discussed this under the chapter of 'The Rule Regarding Hiring Over Prohibited Benefits' where he has discussed many examples such as Riba, alcohol and insurance. He explains the concept that for ' Muslim is not allowed to deal with invalid or defective contracts or with the actions which result from them'.

Riba based contracts have also have specific texts relating to them, so the Sheikh explains:
'This includes the manager, accountants and auditors and every work that provides a benefit connected with usury, directly or indirectly. But the work that is not connected with usury directly or indirectly, such as the porter, the guard, the cleaner and the like, these works are allowed, because it is a hiring on an allowed benefit, and because what applies on the recorder and the witnesses of usury, does not apply on them. Similar to the employees of banks are government employees who are involved in deals with usury, such as employees who work in preparing loans with interest to farmers, and Treasury employees who are involved in usury works, and the employees of the orphans departments which lend property with interest. All these are prohibited jobs; anyone who is involved with them is committing a great sin, because it is applied on him if he is the recorder or the one who witnesses usury. Similarly it is prohibited upon a Muslim to engage in any work prohibited by Allah (SWT).'

The Q&A mentioned after the quote from the Economic system book was written more recently according to the thought of other living Mujtahid's like Sheikh Ata Abu Rashta who is the student of Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani (rh) and Sheikh Abdul Qadeem Zalloom and is a Mujtahid in his own right and an expert in economics as is evidenced by his various booklets on economic issues.

The Q&A clearly answers your question, it says:

"Another example: If someone works in a bank as a technician, who maintains computers which are used for prohibited things, then this is prohibited, for it is directly connected. His work means assistance. If he was ordered by the bank to deliver pizza to their personnel, this would be permissible, because it is not regarded as assistance and there is no direct connection to anything prohibited."

You have to appreciate the difference between a security guard, the one who delivers a pizza, etc and the one supporting the network or computers of the bank which are directly involved in the processing of Riba contracts and thus are haram jobs. This differentiation is clear, you need to understand it from the point of view of what related to assisting the contract and supporting the systems definitely does that.

The Q&A also clearly answers your other question regarding working as part of a team which is employed by the bank to develop software, it says:

"If one gets order from a bank to develop an application which will (among others) be used to calculate interest (riba), then this is directly connected. In this case, the development is prohibited. It is regarded as assistance. If one was to develop such a computer program independently (without an order from a bank) and sell it on the market, then it would be permissible."

Again the differentiation between assistance and being independent can be clearly seen.

ws
Anonymous said…
Walaikum Assalam,
I understand the issue of contracts as mentioned by Sheikh Taqiuddin Nabbani(rahimullah). As with Banks in reality it is a job description which formulates the work that is required of the post.In the job description for a Relationship manager for Corporate Loans, his job would involve accepting and formulating loan applications based on riba i.e. implicitly stated in contract. For IT it does not explicitly say as well in contract and works mainly as a technical support function rather than a software production house.

A brother that I had known worked in a bank and this was the subject of discussion as to whether it was permissible to work in a bank as a web developer. So the explanation of the hadeeth on usury came up where the actions were limited to the contract of usury i.e. recorder, witness, usury taker and provider of usury and that working as a web developer in a bank was deemed halaal at that time in the explanation.

Somehow this concept of assistance to usury action in any form(computer/routers/satellite phones/fiber links/video conferencing) is still vague to me as the way I view it is that these actions of supporting these objects are not directly connected to the action of recording.being a witness to, taking or providing usury in the form of a contract.
Islamic Revival said…
AA

What the brother said is mistaken.

a) It is irrelavent what the official contract says, it is the actual reality of the job that is important.

b) In the case of a web developer for a bank that is clearly prohibitted as it involves aiding the bank market itself and its riba based contracts. Marketing something haram is haram itself. So even printing advertising material for the bank or designing/distributing that material is haram.

c) We do not view fiqh from our own logic, feelings, understanding, etc. We take it from a faqih or a mujtahid and follow the verdict and attempt to understand the issue and the evidence.
Anonymous said…
walaikum assalam,
I checked some reality issues. A loan contract is not done on a computer. Rather, there are pre-printed forms which both parties have to sign according to the terms and conditions at the back of the already printed form. All are manually processed in terms of approving the contract. Once approved it is entered by the loan officer. These records are kept after the application has been processed in physical as well as soft copy format through software.

So does this change the reality?
Islamic Revival said…
The problem lies in the processing of the application as you have mentioned, so it does not change the hukm.

Also the software in banks don't only do this, they are involved in maintaining the systems of the banks in terms of adding interest into accounts, the increments on loans, the recording of received interest loan payments, etc.

As a reminder to us all:

As Muslims we believe due to the reality and the clear textual evidences from the Quran and the Sunnah that our livelihood (rizq) is fixed by Allah (swt) and is not dependent on our efforts, we are obliged to seek our rizq in a halal way. There are many clear texts from the Quran regarding this issue, such as:

وَلاَ تَقْتُلُواْ أَوْلادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلاقٍ نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُهُمْ وَإِيَّاكُم إنَّ قَتْلَهُمْ كَانَ خِطْءًا كَبِيرًا"And do not slay your children, feraing a fall to poverty. We shall provide for thm and for you." [Al-Israa': 31]

إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ"Lo! Allah is that who gives livelihood, the Lord of unbreakable might." [Adh-Dhariyaat: 58]

Remember our Rizq will come to you whether we do haram or halal actions to achieve it, therefore we should only undertake the halal actions in order to achieve it and what Allah (swt) has set for us we will receive.
Anonymous said…
inshallah it would not be a problem in following the hukm.. rather it is an effort to understand the hukm after hearing both sides of the argument.. which hukm is the strongest..
Islamic Revival said…
The other argument you mentioned doesn't sound like from a faqih or a mujtahid? Remember it needs to be a legitimate opinion that you follow first and if there are multiple legitimate veiws like in salah then you adopt what you believe to be the strongest based on evidence.
Anonymous said…
because the reality has to be understood correctly before the hukm is passed.. for instance the issue of routers..

a bank has branches and has a central bank branch.. normally with loan applications at branches the loan applications are processed centrally through another department who enters the information.. now as with routers or switches at branches these are then not used as the manual process bypasses this..

inshallah will ask a local sheikh on this..
Anonymous said…
ass. alaikum
i have ref your web site it is very good to learn
i have a doubt about wearing dress below the ankle plz
send me with relevant daleel about this issue
plz send me which imam accepte to wear the dress below ankle
Islamic Revival said…
Your question is answered in details on:

http://islamicsystem.blogspot.com/2006/10/qa-wearing-garments-below-ankles-for.html
Anonymous said…
assalam alaikum brother,
sheikh taqiuddin(rahimullah) does mention regarding benefits connected with usury :
"This includes the manager, accountants and auditors and every work that provides a benefit connected with usury, directly or indirectly"

Therefore, the softwares do provide a benefit in terms of adding interest to accounts.. Thus working in an IT department in a Riba based bank which would entail supporting the software that would be haraam..

If a brother or sister had entered into a bank based on a hukm which was understood to be halaal, and now adopts this opinion that working in a riba based bank is haraam , then what are the actions that need to be done with respect to:
(a) When the resignation from current job would be required
(b) What happens to the family members who do not have a source of income other than the person already employed,
(c) What happens if promise to pay a muslim regarding loan is defaulted by stopping working in this riba based bank and
(d) Will an arranged employment in a non-riba based job in a bank suffice?
RIYAZ said…
assalamu alaikum,
I have read thru these comments and would like to get some further clarification on this one

Im working on a IT department of a financial sector, here nature of my work is not writing the computer program to directly deal with the business but to support the IT department with any issues they have with some of the IT tools they used and also put some ITIL processes ( change management) in place for the development team to streamline the way they(IT department) works. Is this act considered as direct involvement in the unislamic business?

can you please shed some lights on this, i will be happy to give more details of the work and Im seriously looking to switch to a more halal domain. please help
Jazakallah
Riyaz
Islamic Revival said…
@Riyaz. Wa alaikum as salam. According to the Q&A mentioned above it clear that if you are working in the IT department directly supporting the processing of haram transactions such as riba based ones then this is haram. To avoid such problems it is best for Muslims to avoid the financial sector altogether.
sadia said…
salam
my brother work in a bank as a engineer + logistics .he is a civil engineer and his work is to make design of brunches for the bank. he gets monthly fixed salary from the bank.
is such kind of job is permissible?
RIYAZ said…
Jazakallah Khair bro for your comment, Alhamdulillah last friday i have decided to leave the comapny and got a job in the energy sector now.
Riyaz
Islamic Revival said…
May Allah reward you brother for being diligent in following the Shariah rules
Islamic Revival said…
@Sadia: Please clarify further what you mean by your brother making brunches for the bank, I assume you mean that he is involved in the design of the building as he is a civil engineer? If this is the case then it is similar to the security guard who protects the building - designing or constructing a building is permitted, it does not involve the prohibited contract.
simoom said…
If a Brother (Da'wi),(whether He earns money or can earn money to maintain His livlihood), lives with His guardians (I mean father, elder brother or so), who (His guardian) earns money in Haram means (and not agreeing to abandon Haram earning):

1) allowed to live with His guardians & thus to enjoy that Haram money (food, cloth, shelter & also in various enjoyment & luxuries)?

2) allowed to inherit the properties?

3) his financial contributions are allowed to be taken for Da'wah activities?

4) What has to be the breaking point of Nasihah (which has been deliberately rejected for prolonged time) towards the next step of separation (if allowed)?
Anonymous said…
Salam, the Q&A above regarding IT jobs, who has provided the explantion and answer. Is it the current amir of the hizb or a membr frm the uk, basically clarifying the source
Islamic Revival said…
The text of the answer mentioned is from an answer issued by sheikh ata abu rashta
Islamic Revival said…
@Simoom: The reality of your questions must be further specified, does the guardian earn money which is mixed i.e. some halal and some haram or is their source of income purely from haram?

For example, someone who owns a grocery store and sells many halal items as well as alcohol - this would be an example of mixed money. In this case the one under guardianship or care of such a person can live with them, eat their food etc. They should continue the process of trying to change the munkar by advising them to leave the haram.
Islamic Revival said…
Seperating from ones direct mahram (unmarriable) relatives such as ones parents is not permitted even if they were sinners. However the case is different if they become murtadeen (apostates) and leave the fold of Islam, in this case one must seperate from them and contact with them should be only to convince them back to the deen.
Anonymous said…
Salaam brother,

I got offered a job in a bank in the collections department doing data entry. Basic inputting of information and taking some calls.

I know the detail I have is vague but what would you say about this issue???

ws

jzk
Islamic Revival said…
Salam brother,

We cannot reply without more detail about the position you have been offered with. For the guidelines on this topic read the Q&A above.
Anonymous said…
Asa.

Thank you for efforts. I have a few specific scenarios i want to be clear about. I hope you will be able to answer Insha'Allah.

I recently joined a consultancy company as a programmer/developer. This company has many different clients, amongst them there are also banks and insurance companies.
So i'm not hired directly by the bank/insurence company, but a consultancy company that sells me as a resource on a project or specific task.

If i'm sent for an assignment to one of these types of companies then there can be different scenarios:

Scenario 1:
I have to work on their website in order to improve its design and/or a part of its functionality, not nessecarily something that involves direct programming/designing of elements that has to do with usury.

Scenario 2:
I have to remake the entire website/program in a different technology which also involves segments that contain calculation or insertion of usury

Scenario 3:
I have to integrate the existing system with another system which in itself doesn't involve to involve/work in and which is n

Scenario 4:
I'm part of a team and i'm programming parts of the system but not the arts that involve usury, even though the system as a whole does contain/involve usury.

Which of the above mensioned scenarios is allowed for me to work in/with, if any?

Jazakallah in advance. May Allah reward you for your efforts.
Anonymous said…
Sorry I think there was some kind of typing mistake in scenario 3. Let me re-write it:

Scenario 3:
I have to integrate the existing system with another system which in itself doesn't involve work with usury (a kind of bridge building between two systems).

Another question has been actual since i posted my question. Is the reality of a pension-company and a insurance company the same? So for example if the rule discussed in this article is applied on an insurance company it also applies on a pension-company?

Once again Jazakallah.
Islamic Revival said…
Salam Dear brother/Sister, we advise you to go to a faqih who understands these ahkam and discuss the detailed situations with them. as when discussing detailed realities it is dangerous to simply give a ruling which then can be taken by you or someone but the reality is actually different to what is described.

In general:

- To promote/market or advertise something haram is haram so to work on the design of a pornographic website or one for an insurance company is prohibitted.
- As mentioned in the Q&A above designing/developing a program which calculates riba is not in itself forbidden, this is different to the active implementation or support of that software in a riba based institution/bank which would be prohibitted.
Anonymous said…
Assalamualaikum,The multinational banks have their branches all over the world and they have one dedicated server for all the branches to store the database of their customers,accounts....etc. And all the branches are connected to each other and to the dedicated server.

1.My work is to establish the connectivity between these branch offices and the server
2.implement network security on this network
3.Maintaining smooth flow of communication and troubleshooting
whenever there is a problem in the network
Is it halal to work under this company which maintains the network of
riba based banks
bro from bangladesh said…
salam bro,
i am an engineer from bangladesh and i work as production officer in a multinational company owned by british.
few days ago, one of my closed shabab said, working in a multinational company (which gives some profit share to Britain and britain is in direct war with islam) is haram. in the meantime another sha'b (living in bangladesh) resigned from cellphone company which is owned by Indians.
so my questions are:
1) is it allowed for muslims to work in such private company who gives profit to a kufr country (usa, uk, india etc)?
2) what is rulling for public company (like british council or american embassy) ?
3) what is rulling for british citizens for both private companies (unilever, berger, glaxo, nestle, recckit benkiser etc) and public companies (british council or american embassy)?
4) if i go to england for masters or PhD, will i be allowed to work there?
Islamic Revival said…
@brother from Bangladesh:

1) It is permitted to work in such multinational companies as long as the work is halal. From a shari' perspective as individuals we are not liable for what these companies do with their profits.
2) This is a more detailed area as there are areas which are haram to work and areas which may be permitted, e.g. to work for the armed forces for these countries is haram.
3) Working for such private companies is permitted as long as the work you undertaking is halal.
4) You can work in England and other western countries.
Anonymous said…
bro from bangladesh

what about working in a Public Limited Multinational Company in a Muslim Land whose host country is in war with the Muslims in their land.

For example, if Microsoft is operating in Bangladesh and a Muslim works in it, will it be permissible when we know it is a American company and America is directly at war with Muslims in their Lands.

Please clarify
Islamic Revival said…
@bro from Bangladesh

It is permitted to work in private companies from the western countries as long as the work is halal.
Anonymous said…
The answer on PLC of Harbe feelan is wrong i m afraid.

working under any non-muslim owned company of harbe feelan (if the company comes into muslim land)is not allowed according to shariah. If the muslims are citizen of those harb countries, then it's allowed since our Prophet SAW allowed muslims to stay at Macca after His Hijra.

So, as a bangladeshi Muslim no one is allowed to work under the non-muslim owned companies of any harbe feelan countries like US, UK, India, Russia.

jzk
Anonymous said…
Assalam alaykum

My husband works as a project manager in the business sector for a bank. He took the job because we were been told that it's halal, because it's not dealing with the interest.
Now we are starting to get different opinions, that it could be haram.
We have 2 young kids, and my husband is applying for other jobs, but he is having no luck, and the bank wants him to stay onboard.
He is the only income earner for the family.
Is his job haram? and if yes, does he have to leave it before he gets another job?
Jazak Allah khair.
Islamic Revival said…
Salam Sister,
1. It is important for us to learn the ahkam shariah in a proper manner related to an action such as work especially when one is doubtful about it.
2. As discussed above whether or not your husband's job is haram depends on what his job entails. The title Project Manager is very general and can relate to many areas. The criterion to determine whether it is permitted or not is explained above.
3. It is not permissable to continue in a job if one is unsure of the hukm shar'i regarding it, therefore we advise that he takes a vacation from his job until he clarifies the shariah rule.
4. Rizk is in the hands of Allah our actions neither increase or decrease it, it is something fixed which we have no control over. However we control how we earn it either by halal or haram.
5. We have added a note to bottom of our page which is relavent here: Although we may reply to the questions asked based on the limited information given, for legislative questions in particular we advise all brothers and sisters to go to a trusted faqih (jurist) knowledgeable in the subject and to ask the question to them explaining the reality of it in a proper manner. This is especially important for complex issues.
Anonymous said…
salam brother,

till now i have not encountered any article or Q&A on the hukm regarding "private limited companies". Will the hukms on private ltd will be same as well?
Islamic Revival said…
Salam, in private limited companies you are able to define your own company according to the shariah rules. It depends upon the agreement of the partners.
Syed said…
Salam,

Is working as a server admin or network admin for a bank allowed.
The server hosts the application used by the bank.
Is it directly connected to riba..?

Regards
Unknown said…
Assalamualekum
Q. We have a project in hand wherein we have to mediate between the property owner and non islamic bank (dealing in interest). We shall be getting certain amount as brokerage from property owner. We wont be taking any amount from bank for these deals.
Is this amount which we will receive against these deals be HARAM ?? we stay in non islamic state (india)
After a long duration of unemployment and struggle we have received this project but we dont want to face a fight between us and ALLAH (S.W.T), as is mentioned in sahih bukhari regarding a person dealing in interest.

Please clarify, waiting for your reply.
sheraz said…
i work for a company who is title insurance company for lands is it permissible to work as network engineer for such kind of company? if no please explain why it is not allowed
yasir said…
Asalamikum...i am a civil engineer and i work as a contractor...I usually get contracts to build civil and interior works of buildingd used as banks.... is it permissible to build the buildings which are usef for interest based banks...
Anonymous said…
Assalamualaikum I am from India...My question is whether it is permissible to work as a tax consultant in a company as I am a commerce graduate...Can you Please tell about this
Abu Az Zahrah said…
Assalamu'alaikum Akhi, my question is, whether it is permitted for a Doctor to work in a bank which is a limited company & has public share in stock exchange?
Anonymous said…
Its very simple people make it more complex. Just take a simple example, you have a house of your own and someone came to you and asked you to give me your house on rent as i wanted to open a prostitution in your house and i will give you rent for this per month. Now you know the prostitution is a SIN and the purpose is become in your knowledge that your house will be used for prostitution. So will you gave your house to that person on rent? the Answer is NO Similarly you will not sell your skills to any organization which is clearly supporting BANKS , directly or indirectly.
Anonymous said…
Dear Scholars,

Assalamu alaikum.

I am working in a IT company which is owned or financed by a Bank. I am working as Business analyst for an ERP (Integrated software modules) system for an NGO (Non -government organization).

Could you please mention me whether it will be halal or haram.

Unknown said…
This might help someone.

I live in UK and work as a Senior Software Developer. I have done a lot of research on this issue of working in Banks OR Insurance companies as an IT professional.

There are two side of this issue.

1- Working directly for Banks and Insurance companies.
2- Working for a software company who designs multipurpose softwares.

For second part, majority of scholars are agreed that if software is being used by different industries (multi-purpose software) i.e. Retail, Manufacturing, Banks and Insurance then working as a Software Developer for this company might be okay depending on company’s revenue resource. If majority of clients are in Banks or Insurance then it’s better to avoid this job.

Regarding First part, it’s very clear and straight forward and majority of scholars are agreed that working directly for Banks or Insurance companies is not permissible. We are not allowed to help banks or insurance or credit companies directly or in directly. These companies are generating their income through impermissible resources.

Yes, this is very difficult to totally avoid Riba or Usury in European countries and I have heard many people saying no job is Hala here because majority of the companies are setting up their businesses through bank loans so my income is not Halal no matter what my company does.

Just listen to majority of scholars and do in depth research instead of listening to someone who has no knowledge. Yes its very difficult to avoid Financial jobs as they pay more but at the end of the day Allah will make things more easier for you and there will be more Braka in your salary.

Jazak Allah
Anonymous said…
Assalamualaikum wr,

I live in Germany and it is very difficult to find here a job were i am accepted with hijab and which is halal too. So i want to work in a food shop which sells halal food (Kelloggs). But now because Of Christmas time there are also Advend calendars to sale. Is it allowed for me to sell things like Advend calendars, in which are halal things (Kelloggs).

Jazzakallahu khairan
Asif said…
Dear Sheikh
I have a chance to develop a touch screen based solution for bank for their customers to know about banks and its products. building information and other details. Is it haram? Please guide
best regards
Muhammad asif
Unknown said…
Salam ,

Can I work in the financial sector doing admin work? Answering phone calls booking apps etc.?
Anonymous said…
From Bangladesh:

Assalamu alaikum,
Is it permissible to work in Bangladesh Bank (central bank of Bangladesh)? Basically it controls the banking sector.
Please clarify. Thanks in advance
Unknown said…
Can i do a job as asset Management by a wipro for hdfc bank????
Unknown said…
Can I work for finance company as marketing salesman

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