Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

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Dear Brother Jazak Allah for providing us with a forum where various sisues relating to our daily lives (be it marital or business) can be discussed. My issue is of earning a halal living. I work in an HR Consultancy and recently we have been assigned by a firm that is involved in running a lottery in our country. Our client has outsourced their HR function to us. My main job is in running the daily HR functions such as carry out recuitment, develop a rewards sysem, etc. My query is that whether me working on this assignment is valid keeping in mind our Islamic tenets. Can my monthly salary be classified as halal.
If I decline to work on this project then this conveys to my boss that I am not keen on fulfilling my job responsibilties (for which I am paid).

To me most occupations now have so many grey areas that one does not know where to draw the line. I pray my earnings remian halal.

Can you please address the issue of halal earnings and whether working for such a client, who is involved in business dealings that are categorised as haram by Islam, is allowed.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Working Lottery

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verses 90-91:

90 O ye who believe! Intoxicants, gambling, (dedication of) stones, and (divination by) arrows are an abomination of the Shaytaan's handiwork: eschew such (abomination) that ye may prosper.

91 Shaytaan's plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer: will ye not then abstain?

Allah Subhanah has declared the act of gambling as Shaytaan’s handiwork and an abomination and commanded the believers to eschew and stay far away (fajtanebu) from its obvious evil. The modern form of lottery is an act and manifestation of gambling, and all the laws of Shariah that apply to gambling would also apply to the lottery.

Although you are not involved in playing the lottery yourself, one cannot say with conviction that the earnings from your services are ‘haraam’; but because what you do helps, assists, and facilitates what has clearly been declared as forbidden, one cannot also say with conviction that the earnings are absolutely ‘halaal’! The most one can say is that the service you provide assists in something which has clearly been forbidden in Shariah, and thus its earnings would fall into the dubious category.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.49 Narrated by An Numan bin Bashir

I heard Allah's Messenger (saws) saying, 'Both legal (halaal) and illegal (haraam) things are clearly evident, but in between them there are doubtful (suspicious) things and most of the people have no knowledge about them. So whoever saves himself from these suspicious things saves his religion and his honor. And whoever indulges in these suspicious things is like a shepherd who grazes (his animals) near the ‘Hima’ (private pasture) of someone else, and at any moment he is liable to get in it. (O people!) Beware! Every king has a ‘Hima’ and the ‘Hima’ of Allah on the earth is His illegal (forbidden) things.’

Dear and Beloved Sister in Islam, in our humble opinion, and I reiterate that it is only our opinion, that you should try and somehow convince your superiors to give this assignment of managing the HR functions of the lottery to someone else so that at least you will not be involved directly in its assistance. If you are unable to do that, and the fear of the accounting of Allah Subhanah bears heavy on your heart, make a solemn intention in your heart that at the very first opportunity you would move to a job which does not indulge itself in assisting something which has clearly been declared as forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (saws).

If you make this intention and strive to the best of your ability to stay within the limits and boundaries declared by Allah and His Messenger (saws), it is expected that your Lord Most Bounteous will provide you from His Unlimited and Endless resources, Insha Allah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan