Is My Salary Permissible If It’s Generated from Government Taxes and Finance?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I have read in one of the fatwas of the Hanafi fiqh that to earn a halal income; two conditions must be satisfied: 1) your job should be permissible by Shari‘a; 2) the source of income from where you are getting the salary should also be halal.

Considering the above two conditions, will my salary be Halal if I work in a government sector in a non-Muslim country like India, as the majority source of government income is taxes which is not permitted in Islam? And if permitted, then what kind of taxes is permitted I have read all the fatwas related to taxes, and I have concluded that 80 percent of the taxes are haram, and if they are giving me salary from that haram taxes, will my salary be haram?

Answer

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

I pray you are in good faith and health.

Your salary is halal and permissible for you to earn and take from the government. The hadiths that refer to levying taxes are those that are unfair and unnecessary. While it is true that some of what is levied is Islamically immoral and high. Read the links below. [Taqi Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu‘]

Related:

• Is It Permissible To Work For the Government and Receive Salary Derived From Taxation?
• Paying Taxes to a Government That Harms Muslims
• Muslim Participation in Non-Muslim Governments
• Provision and Work: A Reader

Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course: Living Right: Halal and Haram and Living Prophetic Excellence (Hanafi)

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.