Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu waRahmatullahi 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:
1- Working without government’s knowledge is not ac option for you as part of fulfilling the contracts of security.
2- The only exception would be if a particular urgent need forces you to work without government’s knowledge,
Responding to your question, Dr. Salah Al-Sawi, President of the Shari`ah Academy and the Secretary General for the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in America, states:
We don’t see working without government’s knowledge as an option for you as a part of fulfilling the contracts of security that official documents carry such as entrance visas and residency cards and the likes.
We are a nation that values promises and agreements. Almighty Allah says in the Quran: “Oh you who have faith! Fulfill your contracts…” (Al-Ma`idah 5:1)
But the only exception would be if a particular urgent need forces you to work without government’s knowledge, therein the emergencies are assessed according to their magnitude.
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.