Is Earning a Commission from Sourcing Barley for Alcohol Production Permissible?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question

Is it permissible to earn a commission from sourcing barley and malt for a brewery, given that these are general food products but used in alcohol production?

Answer

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

Allah says in the Quran:

“And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and transgression.” [Quran, 5:2]

While barley and malt are in themselves permissible, earning a commission for sourcing them for a brewery—knowing they will be used to produce alcohol—is not allowed. In essence, even if the commodity is halal, its use in a forbidden (haram) process renders any profit derived from that transaction impermissible.

Ibn Hajar explains this principle clearly in his treatise on enormities (major sins):

“Selling grapes, raisins, or similar to someone who will make wine out of them; or wood or the like to someone who will make a musical instrument; weapons to non-Muslims who will use them against us; wine to someone who will drink it (as opposed to selling it to a vinegar maker, for example); or hemp or similar to someone who will use it as a drug” [Ibn Hajar, al-Zawajir ‘an Iqtiraf al-Kaba’ir]

By analogy, supplying ingredients with the knowledge that they will be used in alcohol production constitutes aiding in sin. Therefore, earning any commission from such a transaction is impermissible.

May Allah guide us to conduct our business in ways that are pleasing to Him.

[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Mohammad Abu Bakr Badhib

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.