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Got a Job Offer in a Trading Company That Does Not Care about Halal or Haram

Question

I got an offer from a trading company. This company trades online and it does not look at halal and haram when it trades. (actually, it trades everything, and as I mentioned it does so online) As a result, parts of its revenue are halal and part of it is haram. I want to ask whether it is permissible (halal) to work for this company? I do not know also how much of its revenue is halal and how much is haram. ( I think that it is impossible to learn how much is halal because it trades a mix of bonds, liquidities, options, currency, etc). The nature of the job is developing and researching algorithms to enhance the efficiency of online trading.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

If the core business or main activity of the company is permissible or mostly permissible, and the offered job does not involve you in unlawful matters and does not require you to directly assist in committing what is forbidden, then there is nothing wrong with working in it; otherwise, it is not permissible.

Dr. Yusuf As-Shibily was asked about working in a company whose activities are mixed, and it produces hardware and software that may be used for things that are not permissible.

His answer was:

It is permissible to work in these companies with the following conditions:

* If the core business of the company is prohibited - such as usurious banks (banks dealing with Riba), commercial insurance companies, and the like, then it is absolutely prohibited to work in them, even if the person is in a job that has nothing to do with the prohibited work itself; this is because his work in the company involves helping in sin.

* However, if the purpose of the company’s business is permissible, but it may practice some prohibited activities, such as many commercial and industrial companies, restaurants, and the like, then it is permissible to work in them in principle, even if some of its activities are prohibited, under the following conditions:

1- The product provided by the company should not be intended for a prohibited matter, or predominantly used for it.

2- The employee shall not be directly involved in the prohibited work by himself.” [End of quote]

Allah knows best.

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