Money Matters
Mufti Abu Muhammad Ali Asghar Attari Madani
What is the ruling related to creating a false certificate to attain employment?
Q: What do the scholars of religion and the Muftis of the Shari’a say about this situation: I have studied until the 9th grade (in Pakistan). There is a vacancy in the railway department which requires a minimum qualification of matric. I could arrange for the certificate to be made. May I secure this post by forging documents? And if one did this and got the job, in a Muslim or non-Muslim company, will his salary be considered lawful (halal)?
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَةَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
It would be lying and fraudulent to have documents for the 10th (matric) forged, giving the impression that you have completed matric, when you have only completed up to 9th grade. This is completely unlawful (Haraam).
Imam Ahmad Raza Khan رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه writes: “Fraud and violating agreements is unequivocally unlawful, even if committed against a non-Muslim,” (Fatawa Razawiyyah, vol. 17, p. 348).
Hence it is not permissible for you to forge documents to attain employment. However, if one has taken such an impermissible course of action, the salary attained would be lawful because it is paid in exchange for his work, as long as he properly fulfils his role and responsibilities .
However, a post attained through a fabricated degree will usually entail specialised work and require special skills and knowledge. Although a lot of manual labour and unskilled work does not require specialised skills, most graduate jobs ask for a certificate or degree as evidence that one is capable and has complete knowledge or training for that role. For this reason, the jurists have said that if one has not attained training from an expert physician for a required duration, it is impermissible for him to treat people.
Consider the example of a fake surgeon. There is an operation which is routinely performed by a qualified surgeon due to his expertise with consideration of many factors, whereas an unqualified surgeon will cut up a body like a butcher. Apparently, they are both operating and the unqualified surgeon may claim that he has done exactly what a surgeon does, but this is not correct, and his wage cannot be considered to be lawful as he has risked a human life and deceived in the matter of expertise related to that role—his work will be deemed defective.
It is stated in Fatawa Razawiyyah:
It is unlawful for an unqualified person to perform this activity—refraining from it is obligatory (fard). The eligible one is he who has attained the theoretical and practical knowledge of this science and gained experience under the supervision of an expert physician for a significant period of time; most patients were successfully treated by him with minimal instances of failure, and he avoided major mistakes that are often committed by inexperienced people in diagnosis and treatment, (Fatawa Razawiyyah, vol. 1, p. 206).
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
Buying expensive groceries from the poor is a means of reward
Q: What do the honourable scholars say about buying expensive groceries from a poor person – is this a rewarding deed?
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَةَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
Buying expensive groceries from the poor is a charitable act that preserves the dignity of the poor individual.
Imam Ghazali رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه said that, “If one buys grain from a poor individual or an item from a pauper, there is no harm in agreeing to [pay] a higher sum and facilitating him; in such a case, he will be considered as one who is doing a favour and be implementing the hadith: ‘رحم الـلّٰـه امرا سھل البیع سھل الشراء i.e. [AR1] ‘May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ bestow mercy upon the one who facilities buying and selling,’” (Ihya al-‘Uloom translated version, vol. 2, p. 313).
It is related from Sayyiduna Jabir b. Abd Allah that the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said:
رحم الـلّٰـه رجلاً سمحاً اذا باع و اذااشتری واذا اقتضی
“May Allah have mercy on the man who is lenient when he buys, when he sells, and when he asks for payment,” (Bukhari, vol. 1, p. 278).
Elaborating on this hadith, Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan Na’eemi رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه remarked:
Leniency in selling is not giving less or an inferior product to the customer; and leniency in buying is giving a good sum and making payment in a good way without troubling the businessman. And leniency in asking for payment is to ask kindly and giving time to the debtor without distressing him. Whoever has these three qualities is an accepted servant of Allah. The Lord, Most-High says: (وَ اِنْ كَانَ ذُوْ عُسْرَةٍ فَنَظِرَةٌ اِلٰى مَیْسَرَةٍؕ-) “And if the debtor is in difficulty, so give him respite until it becomes easy (to pay back),”[1] (Mirat-ul-Manajih, vol. 4, p. 397).
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
What is the ruling on selling wood made from cow dung?
Q: What do the noble scholars say about a new trade nowadays where cow dung is used to make wooden log shapes and then sold. Is this permissible and is income from it lawful?
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَةَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
The use of cow dung is a very old practice. In the past, especially in rural areas, it was commonly fashioned into large disks that were stuck to walls for drying. These disks were then burnt as fuel. The logs that are sold nowadays are not wooden logs but cow dung that has been machine moulded into logs to aid their transportation. These “logs” are burnt with real wood to heat cauldrons that are used for cooking.
To sell cow dung or large discs made from dung or the abovementioned which resembles wood is permissible and there is no harm in doing so. Mufti Amjad Ali A’zami رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه states: “It is not prohibited to sell cow dung,” (Bahar-e-Shari’at, vol. 3, p. 478).
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
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