Can I Work in a Company That Sells Both Halal and Haram Products?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

Is it permissible to work in a company that sells both halal and haram products?

Answer

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

This is a common scenario in predominantly non-Muslim societies, where many workplaces, such as grocery stores, retail stores, and similar companies, may sell both permissible and impermissible items. Examples include alcohol, pork, and other prohibited products.

Key Considerations

When evaluating such employment, the focus is on two main factors: the nature of your work and the core business of the company.

1. Your Work: Your role must not directly involve handling or facilitating unlawful activities. For instance:
   • Permissible: Working in security, packing general items, or administrative roles unrelated to prohibited products.
   • Impermissible: Directly handling, pricing, or selling haram items such as alcohol or pork at the checkout or shelf. The Hanafi school allows some leeway in terms of its approach to this issue.
2. The Company’s Core Business: The company should primarily conduct lawful business. If the core business itself is unlawful, such as gambling, haram insurance, or facilitating forbidden transactions, then employment there is problematic, even if your personal role is indirect. For example:
   • Working in a grocery store where the majority of items are halal, with only minor haram items, is generally permissible as long as your work does not involve the haram products.
   • Working for a company whose main business is prohibited, like an insurance broker offering haram contracts, or a gambling platform, is impermissible because your income would be derived from an unlawful source.

General Guidance

You are not required to find employment in a company that is 100% free of any haram activity. What is required is to ensure that:

1. Your work is fully permissible.
2. The company’s primary business is lawful, so that your earnings come from halal sources.

And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick

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.