Is It Permissible to Work at a Garden Center That Also Sells Impermissible Items?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is my job at a garden center halal if I primarily assist customers with plants but occasionally direct them to areas selling Buddha statues, pork, and alcohol?

Answer

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

If there is an area at your workplace that sells impermissible items along with other permissible services, your directing them there does not make you directly involved in the sin of them purchasing those items, as long as that is not your intention.

If, however, that area is solely and specifically set up for the sale of those impermissible items, such that one would not go to that area for any other reason, it is not permissible for you to direct them there. This would make you complicit in their purchase of sinful items.

In such a case, you should direct them to a different employee for help and not to that area directly.

See this link for more answers related to assisting in sin.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he went on to study at Darul Uloom Seminary in New York and completed his studies at Darul Mustafa in Tarim, Yemen.

There, he completed the memorization of the Quran and his study of Islamic Sciences. Throughout his years of study, he was blessed to learn from many great scholars: Habib Umar bin Hafiz, Habib Kazhim al-Saqqaf, Shaykh ‘Umar bin Husayn al-Khatib, and others.

Upon returning, he joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.