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:

Dear Brother,

Assalamualaikum.

I have a question. Will really appreciate if you can answer the same.

I work for an IT distributor who sells products from a principle company.

The principle company had launched a incentive program for us upon acheiving some target. We acheived the same, hence we were eligible for the promotion.

However, we requested the principle company to not communicate this to my company as my company does not approve incentives for us generally. They dont even give the complete amount of incentives to us on time which we are eligible quarterly.

My question to you brother is, since we got these incentives from my principle company without my company knowing this, would this be a Halal income or Haram income? Also, please note that these were purely incentives launched for us, and paid us in the form of gift vouchers.

Thank you.

(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:

Incentives from third party

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.

To receive an incentive from the principal company (3^rd party), when you are being paid for the job that you do by your company would not be lawful unto you unless and until you had the precise permission and approval from your own company to accept the incentives.

If you took the incentives offered by the principal company (3^rd party) without the precise permission and approval of the company you work for, such an incentive would indeed be deemed unlawful unto you, ethically, morally, and according to the Shariah.

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