I am sending this question again because I didn't get the response. Assalaamu alaykum. I live in a Muslim country, and in our justice system the sharia is only applied when it comes to inheritance, but if someone, for example drinks publicly and disturbs people while drunk or does other unlawful things, then he would be put in prison according to the law. So my question is the following: my mother is a judge, and she provides for my family, so is this money halal? And is using this money to go to Hajj halal? I also want to know what the Maaliki school says about that. And, for example, if a country is ruling by the sharia but it is only applied to the poor people, would that be considered valid?

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.

The ruling on what your mother earns from her job depends on the ruling on the job itself. The summary of what we conclude about the ruling on working in the judicial system under non-sharee'ah laws is that if someone’s job is limited to working in areas on which the laws of Allaah are applied or in areas of administrative and regulatory laws that do not contradict Islam or that the person repels injustice from the Muslims or minimizes it while he endeavors to abide by the sharee'ah of Allaah according to his power and ability, then there is nothing wrong with his work, otherwise, it is not permissible for him to do such a job. Some scholars hold the view that it is absolutely forbidden to work in courts where man-made laws are applied; this is the view of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fataawa in Saudi Arabia.

In cases where the work is not permissible: then the money earned from it is forbidden; Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said, “Everything that is forbidden in itself and every forbidden benefit makes the compensation for it forbidden, with the rule established by the Prophet which is: “If Allaah forbids something, He forbids its price.”

As regards taking the money of your mother in the event that her earning is forbidden: then some scholars hold the view that this is permissible and not forbidden, because the prohibition is related to the way of earning the money and not the money itself; so its prohibition is related to the one who earned it, and dealing with such a person in this money is not forbidden.

Ibn 'Uthaymeen said:

“Some scholars said that the money that is forbidden to earn, then its prohibition is on its earner and it is not forbidden for the one who takes it in a permissible manner from the earner, contrary to what is forbidden in itself, such as alcohol, stolen money (or money taken by force unjustly), and the like; this is a strong opinion evidenced by the fact that the Prophet Muhammad bought food for his family from a Jew, and he ate from the sheep that was gifted to him by a Jewish woman in Khaybar, and he accepted the invitation by a Jew while it is known that most of the Jews consume riba (interest and/or usury) and eat forbidden wealth. This statement may even be supported by the Prophet saying about the meat that was gifted to Bareerah: “For her it is a charity, and from her to us it is a gift.” [Excerpted from al-Qawl al-Mufeeed by Ibn ‘Uthaymeen]

Ibn 'Uthaymeen also said:

“As regards what is earned in an unlawful manner, it is like the money that is taken by deceit or by riba, or by lying, and so on; this is forbidden for the one who takes it but it is not forbidden for others if they earned it (from its earner) in a permissible manner. The evidence for this is that the Prophet dealt with the Jews even though they were eating forbidden wealth and taking usury, which proves that it is not forbidden for the non-earner.” [Excerpted from the interpretation of Surah al-Baqarah]

Based on this view, there is no nothing wrong with performing Hajj with the money of your mother if we presume that her job is forbidden because it is not forbidden for you to take money from her.

As regards the ruling on performing Hajj with forbidden money: then the majority of the scholars hold the view that whoever performs Hajj with forbidden money, his Hajj is valid. This is stated by Ash-Shaafi'i, Abu Haneefah, and Maalik according to his more famous opinion, and it is also thus in one narration from Imaam Ahmad. However, the Hanbali School hold the view, according to their correct opinion, that such a Hajj is not sufficient and that the obligation of Hajj is not dropped by performing such a Hajj; this is also a less famous view of the Maaliki School.

To conclude: according to the most preponderant opinion, there is nothing wrong with performing Hajj with the money of your mother.

As for applying the Islamic rulings on the poor apart from the rich, then there is no doubt that this is absolutely contrary to the justice advocated by the sharee'ah. The Prophet clearly clarified this as he said, “What destroyed the nations preceding you was that if a noble amongst them stole, they would forgive him, and if a poor person amongst them stole, they would inflict Allaah’s legal punishment on him. By Allaah, if Faatimah the daughter of Muhammad stole, I would cut off her hand.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Allaah knows best.