May a Muslim Developer Code a Halacha-Based Will Platform Requiring Rabbinic Approval?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question

I am a Muslim software developer. Several years ago, I built a will-writing platform for a client that helps Muslims create Faraid-compliant wills. The client now wants me to build a new version of the same platform for Jewish clients, based on halacha rather than Faraid.

The default division of the estate follows halacha, including the rule that the firstborn son receives a double share. Any distribution that differs from the halachic default must be approved by a rabbi or Beth Din before the will can be finalized. There is an option for Hekdesh, a religious charitable trust, and a module for recording burial and mourning wishes according to Jewish custom.

I would be the one writing the code for all of this, including the logic that applies halacha and the step that requires rabbinic approval. Is it permissible for me to build this, or would doing so fall under cooperating in sin (Surah al-Ma’ida 5:2)?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate.

You may build this platform, and your earnings from it are lawful. If you find any link to Zionism or support for Israel in the client or project, step back for Allah’s sake and in loyalty to our Palestinian brothers and sisters.

The Issue of Assistance Itself

In the Hanafi school, writing this code is not assisting in sin. The work itself is not sinful. What users do with it is their decision.

There is a distinction between directly assisting in a wrong and providing something that another person then freely uses.

Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, a key reference for fatwa in the later Hanafi school, states that when a non-Muslim hires a Muslim to build a house of worship for his faith, “it is permitted, and the wage is wholesome for him.” [al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya]

In the Hidaya, one of the greatest legal works of Islamic scholarship, Imam Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani gives the reason in al-Hidaya, from Imam Abu Hanifa, on renting out a house that the tenant will use for his worship because the sin lies only in the act of the tenant, who chooses it freely, and that cuts it off from the owner. [Marghinani, al-Hidaya]

Your work is even further removed than a builder’s. The Jewish family chooses how to divide its estate, set up a trust, and record burial and mourning wishes. They ask their rabbi before changing the default. Each step is their choice. Your code records and carries out what they decide. You build the approval step as they require, without endorsing it.

Step Away If Zionism Is Involved

Before you agree, ask plainly: does the client, firm, or product have any tie to Zionism or pro-Israel causes? If so, conscience calls you to decline, even if the work itself is lawful. Your skill is a trust from Allah. Do not lend it to that cause.

Ask plainly and investigate. And if the answer stays unclear, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has already told you what to do: “Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.” [Tirmidhi]

Turning down good work is hard when it pays well. Allah Most High says: “And whoever fears Allah, He grants him a way out of every plight, And provides for him whence he could not even guess; And whoever trusts in Allah, He always suffices; Verily Allah attains His every end.” [Quran 65:2–3; Keller, The Quran Beheld]

Mindfulness of Allah (taqwa) and trust in Him (tawakkul) are the keys to the openings He sends. Hold to both, whichever way this contract goes, and the provision written for you will reach you.

And Allah knows best.

Faraz Rabbani

Related Answers

One. May a Muslim Print Wedding Cards Bearing Non-Muslim Deities? — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: Making an object of another faith’s worship differs from a service at one remove, which the school treats more leniently.

Two. Is It Considered Assisting in Sin to Develop Software for Casinos, Banks, or Insurance Companies? — Sidi Salman Younas: Software work is permitted when the software itself is permissible, with the Hanafi degrees of assisting in sin.

Three. Can I Work as a Copyeditor and Edit Non-Islamic Religious Words? — Mawlana Ilyas Patel: Indirect involvement with another faith’s material is permitted, though disliked, with counsel on when to step back.

Four. Is It Permissible for Me to Assist in the Construction of a Building That May Be Used for Sin? — Mawlana Ilyas Patel: The Hanafi levels of assisting in sin applied to building work, with lawful earnings.

«النصوص» · Source-Texts

[جماعة من علماء الهند، الفتاوى الهندية]

ولو استأجر الذمي مسلما ليبني له بيعة أو كنيسة جاز ويطيب له الأجر.

[المرغيناني، الهداية]

وله أن الإجارة ترد على منفعة البيت، ولهذا تجب الأجرة بمجرد التسليم، ولا معصية فيه، وإنما المعصية بفعل المستأجر، وهو مختار فيه فقطع نسبته عنه.

[الترمذي، سنن الترمذي]

دع ما يريبك إلى ما لا يريبك، فإن الصدق طمأنينة، وإن الكذب ريبة.