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:

Does the income gained from the govt job become haram? if the govt is run by kuffar people as the source of income to the govt. may be from shirk, liquor. Usury etc though the job which i do is halal. 

(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:

Secondary responsibility of finance pay work

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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

If one is convinced that any company or body derives all its income from unlawful sources like shirk, alcohol, usury, gambling, etc…..then indeed one should abstain from working for such a company or body.

Although it may be true that a government may generate some of its income from unlawful sources, it would be hard to imagine any government deriving all its income from sources which are unlawful.

Secondly, it is not at all unlawful for a believer to be employed or work for a disbeliever, provided the work one does is lawful in its essence.

Thus if one has a government job, and the government is run by disbelievers, and even if the government might generate some of its revenue from unlawful sources….provided the job one does for the government is not unlawful in its essence, the income one derives would be considered lawful.

And Allah Alone Knows Best.

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