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Working for a Company of Interest-based Finance: OK?

13 October, 2017
Q As-salamu`alaykum. I am currently working in a company as a software engineer. We have an online shop and we offer installment financing (which includes interest) as a payment method (the contract is with the bank, not with us). I will have to reinstall the online shop in a few months and I will also have to reinstall the installment financing payment method (a button where customers can be directed to the bank website/contract). The problem is that even if I leave this job, I won't find a company where this is not involved. My father even told me that in the case I leave this job for the reasons mentioned above, he will point out a million things where interest is involved at my next working place (he is a lawyer). Can I work as a software engineer at a company which offers installment financing?

Answer

Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

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

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.


In this fatwa:

It is not allowed to work with such a program that deals with interest-based system. You should not also leave your job; instead, you can leave that part to a non-Muslim colleague.

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In his response to your question, Prof. Dr. Monzer Kahf, Professor of Islamic Finance and Economics at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, states:

You certainly do not expect me to say that it is OK to install a program that is used exclusively to apply for an interest-based loan. This is not OK, it is rather haram. This does not mean that you should leave your job as most of its functions are within the permissible range.

I suggest that you should have this part be done by a non-Muslim colleague. I understand that working in any Western country may expose you to such Shari`ah violation.

Please, keep always your effort to avoid the haram as much as you can and seek help from Allah to be always obedient of His commands. Keep istighfar (seeking Allah’s forgiveness) and sadaqah (charity) which always remedy minor sins.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.

About Prof. Dr. Monzer Kahf
Dr. Monzer Kahf is a professor and consultant/trainer on Islamic banking, finance, Zakah, Awqaf, Islamic Inheritance, Islamic estate planning, Islamic family law, and other aspects of Islamic economics, finance, Islamic transactions (Mu'amalat). Dr. Monzer Kahf is currently Professor of Islamic Finance & Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Management, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Turkey