Can I Become a 50/50 Partner in a Restaurant That Also Serves Alcohol?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I have a question about Islamic commerce. I live in a non-Islamic European country, and I plan to open a restaurant with a business partner who is not Muslim. Since this concept also involves selling alcohol (but all the food is halal). I wonder if it’s permissible to engage in this type of business under Sharia law. We will share ownership 50/50. And I’ll deduct my salary from the food profit.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are well.
It will not be permissible for you to become a partner in a business where you will be allowing alcohol to be sold. You are directly assisting in sin, which is not permitted in Islam as you are an owner of the business. You are responsible for making the decisions and how to operate the business.
Intoxicants are decisively prohibited in the Quran, which states, “O you who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, dedication of stones, and divination by arrows, are an abomination of Satan’s handwork: Abstain from such (abomination), that you may prosper.” [Quran, 4:90]
Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Allah has cursed alcohol, the one who drinks it, the one who pours it, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who squeezes (the grapes, etc.), the one for whom it is squeezed, the one who carries it and the one to whom it is carried.” [Abu Dawud] [Taqi Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu; Ibn ’Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
I want to advise you to open up an alcohol-free restaurant, pray to Allah Most High for guidance and success, seek consultation, and advice from others, and request all to supplicate for you.
Related:
What Are the Principles of Work and Assisting in Sin? [Video]
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?
I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
