Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah

Can I work as a IT engineer in a hotel that sells alcohol?

· 8 Rabiʻ I 1433 AH1 min readFatwa 19741English

Question

I am an IT graduate working for a hotel where they serve alcohol to the customer which is about 20% of the revenue. Being an IT engineer my responsibility is to take care of all hardware and software which includes POS machine which are you to take the customer’s order and also a POS software where I create menu buttons which include alcohol items as well.

I am getting a fixed salary which does not depend on the sale of the alcohol. I have read the Hadith in which the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam cursed 10 people in connection with wine. What should I do in my case? Please tell me whether it is permissible for me to continue my job and whether my earned money is halal or not. I am already trying to find another job.

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

In principle, if an item has dual or multiple purposes; some permissible and others impermissible; it will be permissible to produce, buy, sell and rent such an item. However, if an item has only one impermissible purpose, then it will not be permissible to produce, buy, sell or rent such an item.

Based on this principle, if the menu button can only be sued to denote the value of the alcoholic beverage, then it will be prohibitively disliked to develop such a button. However, if it is possible to make it a dual or multiple purpose button; by making it represent the value of another beverage of the same value such as water or a soft drink as well; then it will be permissible to create and produce such a button. If you can implement the aforementioned; then we hope that your income will not be contaminated. [i] [ii] [iii] [iv] [v]

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net

References (Arabic / Urdu sources)

[i] لو أن مسلما آجر نفسه ليعمل في الكنيسة و يعمرها لا بأس به لأنه لا معصية في عين العمل

(فتاوى قاضي خان, ج.٣, ص.٣٣٠, دار الكتب العلمية)

[ii] (قَوْلُهُ وَجَازَ تَعْمِيرُ كَنِيسَةٍ) قَالَ فِي الْخَانِيَّةِ: وَلَوْ آجَرَ نَفْسَهُ لِيَعْمَلَ فِي الْكَنِيسَةِ وَيُعَمِّرَهَا لَا بَأْسَ بِهِ لِأَنَّهُ لَا مَعْصِيَةَ فِي عَيْنِ الْعَمَلِ

(ج.٦, ص.٣٩١, أيج أيم سعيد)

[iii] قَالَ: رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ ء (وَجَازَ بَيْعُ الْعَصِيرِ مِنْ خَمَّارٍ)

البحر الرائق, ج.٨, ص.٢٣٠, دار الكتاب الإسلامي

[iv] و الضابط عندهم ان كل ما فيه منفعة تحل شرعا فان بيعه يجوز

الفقه الاسلامي و ادلتة. الفصل الاول: عقد البيع

[v] مُسْلِمٌ آجَرَ نَفْسَهُ مِنْ مَجُوسِيٍّ لِيُوقِدَ لَهُ النَّارَ لَا بَأْسَ بِهِ. كَذَا فِي الْخُلَاصَةِ.

(الفتاوى الهندية ,ج 4 ص 450 دار الفكر)

Checked & approved by
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
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Source: Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah — https://askimam.org/public/question_detail/19741
Fatawa SA: https://fatawa.co.za/fatwa/askimam-19741

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