Assalaamu alaykum. I am a student of graduate class (MSc) of an institution in Bangladesh. I was planning to do my thesis under the supervision of one of my professors who lives in the USA (he is a guest faculty of my institution). So I contacted him (through email) to request doing my thesis under his supervision. One day, he phoned me and asked me about my field of interest (thesis topic), my family, and what I am doing now (whether I had a job or not), and so on. So I told him about my field of interest, family, and so on, and also that I did not have a job at the time. Then he told me to send my CV to him and that he would see whether he could help me in this regard. At the time, I did not send my CV to him because I thought that it would be haram to get a job this way. From then on, we frequently started to meet each other regarding my thesis. Recently, he asked me about my job status, and I said that I still did not have a job, so he said almost the same thing that I explained earlier. My question is: is it haram or halal to get a job in that way? One thing that I would like to mention is that I never told my professor that was jobless nor asked him to help me on that, and I only asked Allaah for help.

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 is His slave and Messenger.

It is permissible to use one’s connections to get a job as long as he is qualified to carry it out as due, and using such connections does not involve wronging others. The Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fataawa advised:

"It is permissible to use one's connections to attain any given benefit as long as this does not involve wronging another person or denying or infringing upon his rights. Rather, the Islamic sharee'ah encourages interceding in the favor of others or using one's connections and (or) influence to perform services to others, and the doer is rewarded for that. It has been authentically reported that the Prophet said, "Make intercession and you will be rewarded for that, and Allaah Almighty shall decree and fulfill on the lips of His Prophet whatsoever He wills."

Hence, there is no religious impediment to accepting the help of this professor in getting a job as long as you are qualified for it.

Allaah knows best.