Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I will be working for a company in a few weeks inshaAllah but I have a few concerns about the position i will be offered. my questions are as follows:
1- if i am asked to write cheques which are payments that include interest based transactions, can i do so. i will not be involved in the transaction, only the writing of the cheque.
2- if i am an assistant for the company accountant and my job is to enter his figures and calculations into the company record-keeping books, can i do so, knowing (or not knowing) that the figures have been tampered with in order to escape tax payment or something of the like.
3- if i do not know that the figures have been tampered but i have doubt, should i probe and investigate?
4- can i enter interest-based transactions into the record books. i will not be participating directly in any transaction aside from recording and issuing payment. the actual transaction will be settled by the boss. i appreciate a prompt reply if possible. this is really worrying me.
In the name of Allah Most Merciful Most Compassionate
I pray you are well and in the best of health and iman. In general, if one’s line of work is permissible and one’s own work is permissible, then one’s earnings are permissible; and if there are related impermissible considerations, it is recommended to avoid them when possible without undue hardship.
Regarding your questions:
[1] This is permissible.
[2] You can do such entries, within the limits of minimally-accepted accounting standards of reporting. (Such that it wouldn’t be considered being party to wrongdoing.)
[3] When there is reason to doubt, such that minimally-accepted standards entail that one should investigate, then one should.
[4] Yes, according to the fatwa of leading contemporary jurists.
And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani
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