Earnings of an illegal taxi driver
Fatwa No: 163695

Question

assalamualikum i am a sri lankan male muslim, living in qatar, a taxi driver, this taxi service is not allowed by qatar government, it is illeagal so, this type earnigns haram or halal, some time i picks women & girls in the night time, please kindly clear this problum, is islam allowed this type of earnings?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

It is permissible for the ruler to restrict what is permissible to fulfill a public benefit; and what he does is construed within the context of that benefit unless proven otherwise. In this case, you should abide by his command, so, you have to abide by the regulating law.

But to transport a woman alone at night, whether or not for a charge, is a form of the forbidden seclusion between a man and a non-Mahram woman; so it is impermissible so long as there is no compelling necessity or need considerable under Sharee’ah, as we have previously clarified in Fatwa 91450.

In any case, what you earn from your job, regardless of your violation in both cases, is not unlawful for you, since it is in return for a benefit that is permissible in principle, which is transporting people.

Allaah Knows best.

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