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Ruling on working for a company that maintains the Central Bank building

08-02-2004

Question 49829

 

I am an engineer, I graduated nearly two years ago, and I looked for suitable work but I could not find anything. Praise be to Allah, I am well off and live with my father, but I hoped that Allah would enable me to find work so that he will stop worrying about me sitting and not working or doing anything useful.
 Now I have found the opportunity to work in a private company that maintains and operates the Central Bank, on an annual contract and with a decent salary. Is the ruling on working for this company the same as the ruling on working in banks? I hope you can answer my question… What if I tell the company that I do not want to work in the bank and ask them to transfer me elsewhere – will the same ruling apply? Please note that I have not found work until now.

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

It is not permissible for you to work in the Central Bank either directly or by working for a company that maintains and operates the bank’s equipment, because this involves cooperating in sin and transgression.

 This central bank is responsible for all the banks and for deciding their interest rates (riba) and enforcing their regulations and promulgating laws and systems that go against the laws of Allah. 

If you work for a maintenance and operation company there is no reason why you should not maintain and operate companies that deal with things that are permissible according to the rulings of sharee’ah, even if your company has other branches that deal with things that are not permissible. What is important for you is not to accept work in this field; you should look for another field where you can operate and maintain things that are permissible according to sharee’ah. 

On this site you will find many fatwas concerning the ruling on working for riba-based banks and for organizations that guard riba-based banks or operate programs for them. We have quoted in these fatwas the comments of the scholars stating that such jobs are haraam, and this applies completely – if not more emphatically – to companies that take care of these banks. 

See also the answers to questions no. 21113, 26771

And Allah is the Source of strength.

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