Does Using Prohibited Examples Affect the Permissibility of Learning?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

Is it permissible to take a course focused on skill development if it includes examples involving haram, such as negotiating the price of wine?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

May Allah guide us to that which is pure and pleasing to Him and protect us from that which incurs His displeasure.

It is permissible to study and benefit from a skill-development course, even if some of the examples used in the course refer to impermissible (haram) transactions, so long as the course itself does not promote or condone the unlawful, and one’s intention is to learn and benefit.

In Sacred Law, scholars sometimes use hypothetical scenarios involving prohibited (haram) actions to explain concepts or examples of invalid contracts. For example, within the Shafi‘i School, selling grapes to someone known for producing wine is impermissible. When such cases are discussed in academic texts or lectures, the intention is not to promote the action, but to clarify that it falls outside the bounds of lawful transactions.

Similarly, negotiating the price of wine may be used in business or negotiation training purely as a conceptual exercise, not as an endorsement of its permissibility. It would be considered lawful to attend if the course remains within the bounds of general learning and does not include active participation in haram.

Allah Most High says:

“Say: Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” [Quran, 39:9]

Practical Guidance

• If the course allows, mentally substitute haram examples with lawful analogs.
• When possible, seek out instructors or institutions that are sensitive to Islamic ethics.
• Use the knowledge acquired in ways that serve halal and beneficial goals.

May Allah grant you success in your learning and make it a means of benefit to yourself and others.

And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town. He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.