Fatwa: # 15089
Category: Financial Transactions
Country: South Africa
Date: 23rd April 2007

Title

This company has many clients including a company involved in the gambling industry. We would simply be providing a computer service for that company.

Question

As Salaamu Alayakum

I have a Question regarding a work application. I am a computer programmer currently working for a Muslim/Indian company. Unfortunately, the pay is the extremely low. Compared with other companies, it is around a 25% of what is available for the same job elsewhere. The type of work that we do is designing computer programs to keep track of all monetery/business related aspects of the company, eg. Debtors, Creditors, Stock, Ledgers,  etc.
We install teh programs on the machines and set them up at the premises.


A job is a available at a non-Muslim owned company with excellent pay. This company has many clients including a company involved in the gambling industry. We would simply be providing a computer service for that company.
Is this permissible?

Another job is also available, creating applications for cellular phones (including games. Is such a job permissible?

Answer

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh

It is permissible to work for a non-Muslim company and provide computer service on condition the service is not directly related to an un-Islamic activity. For example, if you have to set up a gambling mechanism on the computer, that is un-Islamic and it cannot be used for anything else.

You may request the non-Muslim company to excuse you from such services. It is also advisable for you to offer your service and skills in creating applications for cell phones even thought the cell phones do have games.

And Allah knows best

Wassalam

Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa

DISCLAIMER - AskImam.org questions
AskImam.org answers issues pertaining to Shar'ah. Thereafter, these questions and answers are placed for public view on www.askimam.org for educational purposes. However, many of these answers are unique to a particular scenario and cannot be taken as a basis to establish a ruling in another situation or another environment. Askimam.org bears no responsibility with regards to these questions being used out of their intended context.
  • The Shar's ruling herein given is based specifically on the question posed and should be read in conjunction with the question.
  • AskImam.org bears no responsibility to any party who may or may not act on this answer and is being hereby exempted from loss or damage howsoever caused.
  • This answer may not be used as evidence in any Court of Law without prior written consent of AskImam.org.
  • Any or all links provided in our emails, answers and articles are restricted to the specific material being cited. Such referencing should not be taken as an endorsement of other contents of that website.
The Messenger of Allah said, "When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of Deen."
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]